ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BLAMES EX-SPEAKER FOR HIDING TRUTH ABOUT RESIGNATION

Mediamax news agency
22 May 06

Yerevan, 22 May: The leader of the Orinats Yerkir Party, Artur
Bagdasaryan, who resigned from the post of the parliamentary speaker
today, and the leader of the National Unity Party, Artashes Gegamyan,
traded mutual accusations at the National Assembly session today.

Artashes Gegamyan in particular said that “the Armenian president and
the defence minister managed to pull down the Orinats Yerkir Party
within several days”.

“Artur Bagdasaryan is speaking about the atmosphere of fear reigning
in Armenia. Most likely, this atmosphere of fear is hindering him
to tell the whole truth that precisely Robert Kocharyan and Serzh
Sarkisyan forced him to resign from the post of speaker,” the leader
of the National Unity Party said.

In reply, Artur Bagdasaryan said that if the National Unity Party
had not left the opposition camp after the first round of the 2003
presidential elections, “a different political situation would have
emerged in the country”. Artur Bagdasaryan said that Artashes Gegamyan
had thus implemented “Serzh Sarkisyan’s order”.

The politicians’ quarrel lasted for quite a while after which they
decided to continue their dispute on the air of one of the Armenian
TV channels.

[Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian 1733 gmt 22 May 06 quoted Serzh Sarkisyan
as saying that he was “absolutely uninterested in the quarrel between
Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan and the leader of the opposition National
Unity Party”.]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress