EX-SPEAKER’S PARTY HIT BY ANOTHER DEFECTION
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 20 2007

The Orinats Yerkir Party of Armenia’s former parliament speaker Artur
Baghdasarian has suffered yet another defection from its faction in the
National Assembly, which already shrunk by more than half last year.

Gagik Mkheyan, a parliament deputy from Orinats Yerkir, confirmed
on Tuesday reports that he has decided to leave the party due to
disagreements with its young and ambitious leader. "I have handed in
my resignation to Artur Baghdasarian," he told RFE/RL.

The move reduced to eight the number of seats in the 131-strong
assembly controlled by Baghdasarian’s party. As recently as one year
ago, Orinats Yerkir boasted 21 parliamentarians, giving it the second
largest parliament faction. Most of them defected from the faction
last April, precipitating Orinats Yerkir’s forced withdrawal from
the governing coalition. Virtually all of the defectors were wealthy
businessmen dependent on government connections.

Mkheyan, who was also a deputy chairman of Orinats Yerkir, refused
to give any reasons for the move. "I don’t find it appropriate to
talk about the reasons at this point," he said.

Mkheyan also did not comment on rumors that his resignation came
in response to government threats to force a construction company
reportedly owned by him out of business. The company is building
luxury housing in central Yerevan.

The remaining Orinats Yerkir lawmakers would not confirm or deny the
rumors. One of them, Hovannes Markarian, suggested that Mkheyan quit
mainly because he knew he will not be included on the list of the
party’s candidates for the May parliamentary elections.

Baghdasarian has repeatedly accused the Armenian authorities of
harassing many of his loyalists since Orinats Yerkir’s exit from the
coalition. The authorities have dismissed the claims.