DASHNAKS AGAIN MEET KOCHARIAN ON NEW COALITION
By Ruzanna Khachatrian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 1 2007
The leadership of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun) was having what appeared to be final deliberations
on its continued presence in Armenia’s government on Friday after
holding more talks with President Robert Kocharian.
Hrant Markarian, the de facto head of its worldwide governing Bureau,
told RFE/RL that Kocharian presented him and other top party leaders
with "new proposals" on the terms of Dashnaktsutyun’s involvement in
a coalition government to be formed by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.
Markarian refused to disclose those proposals, saying only that they
will be presented to the governing Supreme Body of the Dashnaktsutyun
organization in Armenia. The body met later on Friday but made no
decisions apart from instructing its collective leadership to draft
a response to Kocharian’s proposals.
"The meeting was adjourned," a senior party member, Gegham Manukian,
told RFE/RL. "Discussions will continue later on."
Party officials say that the Supreme Body, of which Markarian is
not a member, will have a final say on the matter, even though it is
formally subordinated to the Bureau dominated by Diaspora Armenians.
Markarian implied that the influential party, which has branches in
virtually all major Armenian communities abroad, will announce on
Saturday whether or not it will join Sarkisian’s cabinet.
Markarian and the top Supreme Body member, Armen Rustamian, already
met Kocharian on Wednesday but apparently failed to reach any
agreement. Lragir.am reported that they also held more with Sarkisian
and other senior representatives of the governing Republican Party
(HHK) in Kocharian’s presence late Thursday. According to the online
news service, the Dashnaktsutyun leaders again rejected Sarkisian’s
demands that they commit themselves to supporting him in next year’s
presidential election in return for retaining their control over
three or four government ministries.
Dashnaktsutyun endorsement would give a major boost to Sarkisian’s
chances of succeeding Kocharian as president early next year.
Observers believe this is the reason why he is ready to share power
with the center-left nationalist party despite the fact that his
HHK won an outright majority in the Armenian parliament in the May
12 elections. Dashnaktsutyun, by comparison, will have only 16 seats
in the 131-member National Assembly.
In an interview with RFE/RL earlier this week, Markarian said his party
is seeking a greater say in the formulation of key government policies
and will not be "bribed" by ministerial portfolios. He and other party
leaders had earlier demanded that Armenia’s next defense minister be
affiliated with Dashnaktsutyun. However, the HHK’s landslide election
victory all but ruled out such possibility.