ARDARUTIUN AND NATIONAL UNITY FACTIONS NOT TO TAKE PART IN ELECTION OF NEW NA SPEAKER
Noyan Tapan
May 18 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. After Artur Baghdasarian’s resignation
from the post of RA NA Speaker is accepted the Ardarutiun faction will
not take part in nomination of candidatures and voting for the vacant
post. The faction made this decision at the May 18 sitting. According
to Ruzan Khachatrian, Ardarutiun (Justice) bloc’s Spokesperson,
like in the first sitting of NA of current convocation in 2003
that was dedicated to the election to NA ruling posts, the reason
of non-participation is the same: the faction considers that the
parliamentary elections of 2003 were held with violations and the
official results do not correspond to the real picture of people’s
election, so Ardarutiun is not going to take part in “intra-power
games”. Nevertheless, it is not excluded that unlike 2003 when the
faction did not take part in the sitting at all this time the faction
will take part in the discussion of the issue and will express its
point of view. The only MP among faction members taking part in the
sitting who was against the above-mentioned decision was Arshak
Sadoyan, Chairman of the Union of National Democrats. As the MP
explained, nomination of an alternative candidate by the opposition is
too important as “the National Assembly is not a punching machine for
them to decide in the presidential residence who should be NA Speaker
and to go to this process with one candidate”. In response to Noyan
Tapan correspondent’s question, the MP said that he has never spoken
about nominating his own candidature: “I have said that candidatures
should ne nominated and if there is such a question, I am ready to
nominate my own candidature”. In this connection Ruzan Khachatrian once
more confirmed that the faction’s non-participation in the nomination
of candidatures and in voting is “a question of principle and is
not connected with any person”. Faction Secretary Viktor Dallakian
in his turn did not exclude that there can be unexpected things
during the election of the new NA Speaker but “not on the part of the
faction”. Another opposition party, the National Unity, is not going
to take part in the nomination of candidatures and in voting, either,
but it considers impossible its participation in the discussions.
This faction did not take part in the first NA sitting of 2003 and
considers that the forthcoming elections are, in fact, the continuation
of the first sitting. “We have neither willingness nor goal to take
part in the games and intrigues of the coalition,” faction member
Aghasi Arshakian declared.