VOTING RIGHTS OF ARMENIAN DELEGATION SHOULD BE SUSPENDED, OPPOSITION ACTIVIST SAYS

Lragir.am
14:46:56 – 17/12/2008

The Armenian government is facing innumerable problems in external
policies, which are the consequence of the illegitimacy of the
government, the society rejects the present government, said the
representative of the Armenian National Congress who was hosted at
the National Press Club on December 17.

With regard to the state of external policies, Davit Shahnazaryan
pointed to the developments relating to the improvement of the Armenian
and Turkish relations, which is determined by the Karabakh conflict, he
says. Besides, according to the ANC representative, a new situation has
emerged in the region, determined by the August events. According to
Davit Shahnazaryan, this situation enables Armenia to gain importance
but the government is not able to do this, using the new opportunities.

Davit Shahnazaryan says the government is having a lot of problems at
the Council of Europe, which is the consequence of crimes: election
fraud, March 1, political prisoners, and restraints on political
and civil freedoms. At the same time, the representative of the
opposition stated that they do not rely on the Council of Europe, and
the opposition thinks only it can deal with the issues of democracy and
constitutional order in Armenia. Davit Shahnazaryan stated that Europe
may continue to ignore the repressions by the Armenian government, but
as soon as a government shaped by people is established in Armenia,
that government will perhaps discuss whether it is worthwhile to be
a member of that organization.

Davit Shahnazaryan also stated that political rather than economic
sanctions should be applied to the Armenian government. The opposition
activist said the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the PACE
should be suspended because together with its head Davit Harutiunyan
the delegation is busy making the attitude of the CoE towards the
repressions of the Armenian government, meanwhile the Azerbaijani
initiatives for the settlement of the Karabakh issue are pending,
jeopardizing the interests of Armenia and Artsakh.

Another foreign political issue, according to Davit Shahnazaryan,
is the global economic crisis. He says to fear that the oligarchic
economy of Armenia is unable to tackle the consequence of the global
crisis. Summing up, Davit Shahnazaryan said if earlier this year
Armenia faced a deficit of democracy and violation of human rights,
at the end of the year the issue of Karabakh, the international
economic crisis and the new situation in the region added.

As to the possible developments, Davit Shahnazaryan stated that the
government will pursue its wrong policies until it final collapse.