DASHNAKS DEMAND GREATER SAY IN GOVERNMENT
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 29 2007
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) will join Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s new cabinet only if it is given a greater
say in how Armenia should be governed, a leader of the influential
party said on Tuesday.
Hrant Markarian, the top member of Dashnaktsutyun’s worldwide
governing Bureau, said it does not want to be an "appendage" of
Sarkisian’s and Republican Party (HHK) and will not be by "bribed"
by several ministerial posts. Markarian also made it clear that his
party will not necessarily endorse Sarkisian’s presidential bid even
if it chooses to stay in government.
Sarkisian appears to be ready to cut a power-sharing agreement
with Dashnaktsutyun and other political groups loyal to President
Robert Kocharian despite the HHK’s landslide victory in the May 12
parliamentary elections. Negotiations between those parties were still
going on as of Tuesday, with no agreements officially announced so far.
Markarian denied media reports that Dashnaktsutyun has already
agreed to take up three ministerial portfolios in Armenia’s new
governing coalition. "There is no such agreement," he told RFE/RL
in an interview. "The negotiations are taking longer than expected
not because of haggling over portfolios or other posts. Negotiations
center on more important issues."
"You may join a government for different reasons," continued the
Iranian-born politician. "You may simply be bribed by a few portfolios
to join that government as an appendage."
"You may also join it as a partner after ascertaining policies,
rights, and responsibilities. We are in favor of the latter approach.
This is why [the negotiations] are dragging on," he said. The
nationalist party specifically wants Sarkisian to incorporate some of
the Dashnaktsutyun-backed policies into his cabinet’s plan of actions.
Markarian also denied that control over the Armenian Ministry of
Defense Ministry is another necessary condition for Dashnaktsutyun’s
continued presence in government. He and other Dashnaktsutyun leaders
openly laid claim to the post in the run-up to the elections.
Newspaper reports last week said the current non-partisan defense
minister, Mikael Harutiunian, will keep his job.
Dashnaktsutyun, which is represented in Armenia’s outgoing government
by four ministers, won about 13 percent of the vote and will control
16 of the 131 seats in the newly elected National Assembly. Although
this is an improvement over its performance in the previous legislative
polls, the party is hardly in a position to dictate terms to the HHK,
which got at least 64 parliament seats and is assured of the backing
of several nominally independent lawmakers.
Markarian further indicated that Dashnaktsutyun is reluctant to
commit itself to supporting Sarkisian in the presidential election
due early next year. "We are an independent party guided by our own
decisions," he said. "We cannot sacrifice that independence for the
sake of some agreements."
Asked whether the party still intends to have its own presidential
candidate, Markarian said: "Everything is possible."
Observers believe that the 2008 election is a major reason why
Sarkisian is prepared, in principle, for coalition rule.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
