ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS NEW VICE-SPEAKER
By Ruzanna Khachatrian and Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Nov 12 2007

The National Assembly elected a senior representative of the
pro-presidential Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) as its new deputy
speaker on Monday.

The BHK controls the post in accordance with a power-sharing deal
it cut with Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party
(HHK) and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
following last May’s parliamentary elections. Its previous holder,
Ishkhan Zakarian, was elected by the parliament as the new head of
Armenia’s Audit Chamber, a body overseeing use of public financed by
various government bodies, earlier this month.

Zakarian’s replacement, Arevik Petrosian, until now headed the
parliament committee on human rights and had previously served as
deputy minister of justice. Petrosian, 35, will be the first female
vice-speaker of independent Armenia’s parliament.

Her main challenger in the election, Anahit Bakhshian of the opposition
Zharangutyun (Heritage) party, was also a woman. Only 13 of the 131
members of the government-controlled legislature voted for Bakhshian,
compared with 79 votes cast for the BHK nominee.

In a separate development, the BHK ruled out any political motives
for last Thursday’s killing of one of the leaders of its branch
in Yerevan’s Kanaker district. Sayad Davtian, chairman of the
Armenian Union of Hunters, was shot dead in broad daylight outside
an agricultural market in the neighboring Arabkir district. Police
said on Monday that they are investigating the killing but have not
identified any suspects so far.

"As long as the investigation is underway we won’t suggest any theories
of the crime," BHK spokesman Baghdasar Mherian told RFE/RL.

"Having said that, we can already rule out the possibility of
political motives."

"The Prosperous Armenia Party has no enemies," he said. "We cooperate
with a broad range of political parties."

The BHK is officially led by Gagik Tsarukian, a tycoon close to
President Robert Kocharian, and boasts the second largest faction in
the parliament.