COALITION PARTNER THREATENS TO QUIT YEREVAN COUNCIL
Asbarez Staff
Nov 19th, 2009
Prosperous Armenia Party Leader Gagik Tsarukian
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-A junior partner in Armenia’s governing coalition
reaffirmed on Thursday its threats to walk out of Yerevan’s municipal
council if its pro-presidential majority and Mayor Gagik Beglarian
continue to run the city "single-handedly."
The Prosperous Armenia Party, the country’s second pro-establishment
force, issued such a warning after President Serzh Sarkisian’s
Republican Party pushed through a controversial legal amendment
through the council over its objections on Wednesday. The amendment
lowered from 33 to 17 the minimum number of councilors allowing the
assembly to make a quorum.
Arman Vartanian, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia faction in the
65-member Council of Elders, described that as the latest example of
the Republican Party ignoring the opinion of its coalition partner
in municipal affairs. He said the party led by businessman Gagik
Tsarukian will give up its 17 council seats if the Republicans carry
on with their "crude political approach."
"We have certainly talked to Mr. Tsarukian about these issues,"
Vartanian told RFE/RL. "Mr. Tsarukian’s position is that we should
work as effectively as possible, try to reach common denominators with
our partners but if they don’t attempt to understand that adequately,
then we will make a decision.
"That is, we will ask the party to discuss the issue of our working
or not working [in the council.] None of us is clinging to their
mandates and posts."
The leader of the 35-strong Republican faction in the Yerevan
legislature insisted earlier on Thursday that Tsarukian’s party has no
"well-founded grounds" to quit the council. "At least our faction has
given them no reason to do that. Nor has the mayor," Derenik Dumanian
told a news conference.
"Prosperous Armenia is our coalition partner, and I think that we will
remain coalition partners until the next parliamentary elections,"
said Dumanian.
The council’s credibility and legitimacy was already damaged by the
opposition Armenian National Congress’s decision to spurn the remaining
13 mandates allotted to it as a result of the May 31 elections. The
opposition bloc rejected the official vote results as fraudulent.