Interfax, Russia
Sept 11 2009
Armenian opposition party Zharangutyun splits
YEREVAN Sept 11
A split occurred among the ranks of the only opposition party
represented in the Armenian parliament.
MP Vardan Khachatryan, party’s representative in the Central Election
Committee Zoya Tadevosian and Movses Aristakesian have been expelled
from the party, the party’s spokesperson told Interfax.
Party leader Raffi Ovannisian, whose parliamentary seat, according to
the party list, was due to be taken by Aristakesian, refused his
parliamentary mandate.
Speaking before the press, the representatives of the Zharangutyun
party’s camps accused each other of "corruption, working as agents for
other political parties and falsifying the results of the vote for
vacant parliamentary mandates."
The party’s parliamentary faction leader, Armen Martirosian, has also
stepped down, the party spokesperson said. He will be replaced by MP
Stepan Safarian. Martirosian has been elected as chairman of the
Zharangutyun party’s board.