Interfax - Russia & CIS General Newswire October 4, 2018 Thursday 6:06 PM MSK Armenian party Dashnaktsutyun accuses PM of attempt to establish political monopoly YEREVAN. Oct 4 The Dashnaktsutyun party, which holds seven seats in the National Assembly, the Armenian parliament, has spoken in support of a bill amending the parliament's rules of procedure and says the attempts to disrupt competitive elections and to establish a political monopoly by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the pretext of "a counterrevolution threat" are unacceptable, the party said in a statement on Thursday. "The draft amendments to the law on the National Assembly's rules of procedure supported by the Dashnaktsutyun faction, which were used to score points, were not aimed at disrupting the negotiating process around early elections. On the contrary, they were designed to guarantee that the parliament will be dissolved only through the law and in a constitutional way. The need to hold early parliamentary elections within a year is clearly stipulated in the government's program and hasn't been disputed," Dashnaktsutyun said. "It should be taken into consideration that holding early parliamentary elections has implied from the start that clear steps and actions would be taken to reform the Electoral Code and the entire electoral system in order to hold truly free, just, transparent, and democratic elections," it said. "It is much more important to ensure the proper quality of elections, form a proper political and moral-psychological atmosphere, and create the legal and organizational preconditions for that," Dashnaktsutyun said. "The desire to hold elections as soon as possible jeopardizes the organization of competitive elections and provides favorable conditions for the ruling political force," it said. "We see the attempt to disrupt the agenda for holding early elections based on a common and clear-cut roadmap on the pretext of the threat of counterrevolution as unacceptable and are firmly convinced that political processes pursued through coercion and threats cannot lead the country down the right path," Dashnaktsutyun said. Violence or threats to use violence against the National Assembly and its members, which would essentially do away with the immunity guaranteed by the Constitution, are aimed at disrupting the normal election process, the party said. "We are convinced that mendacious accusations about worsening the situation, violating agreements, and conspiracies are attempts to divert the people's attention from creating preconditions for free and competitive elections. We have to acknowledge that we're simply dealing with a new attempt to establish a political monopoly under the guise of democracy in Armenia," Dashnaktsutyun said. "There can be no return to the past; in order to guarantee the present and the future, past mistakes must not be replayed. We are convinced that there is still a chance for dialogue, and a consolidation of political forces can help us find the right way to resolve the situation," he said. Prime Minister Pashinyan said at the National Assembly on October 3 that early parliamentary elections should be held in December. The leaders of the Republican Party's, Prosperous Armenia's, and Dashnaktsutyun's parliamentary factions had earlier objected to the prime minister's proposal and said that if elections were scheduled for May 2019, they would agree not to nominate candidates for the post of prime minister. The 105-seat Armenian parliament is currently comprised of four factions. The Republican Party controls 50 mandates. The Tsarukyan faction, which is led by a major Armenian businessman, Gagik Tsarukyan, holds 31 mandates. The Dashnaktsutyun faction comprises seven lawmakers, and the Yelk faction nine. The Yelk faction is comprised of three parties, including Civil Contract, which Pashinyan leads. Eight other parliamentarians, who left the Republican Party's faction after the change of government in Armenia, do not belong to any faction. Some leading Republican Party members said earlier that they did not see the holding of early parliamentary elections as an urgent necessity but were open to discussion. President Armen Sarkissian said on Wednesday he would initiate consultations with Prime Minister Pashinyan and parliamentary speaker Ara Babloyan regarding the bill on the National Assembly's rules of procedure passed by the parliament to complicate its dissolution and the calling of early parliamentary elections. Pashinyan said earlier that he had met with Babloyan and representatives of the Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia and Dashnaktsutyun and would resign within the next few days. Pashinyan said also that it had been agreed at a meeting with the speaker and members of the parties that they would not nominate candidates for prime minister, as this could provoke a new crisis. Republican Party press secretary Eduard Sharmazanov said no final decision had been made on the dates of early parliamentary elections and the nomination of a candidate for prime minister. Speaking at a rally in Yerevan on October 2, Pashinyan said the Republican Party led by former President Serzh Sargsyan had gone over to the counterrevolution and called for "eradicating" it from the Armenian political landscape. Va mc mk