Politics, politics...

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Armenia Service reports again on continuing friction within the ruling coalition Government. After the Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Artur Baghdasaryan, accused Justice Minister, David Harutyunyan of corruption, he's now turned his sights on Andranik Markaryan's Republican Party.

Several parliamentarians representing the Orinats Yerkir Party led by Baghdasarian read out tirades about government corruption and mismanagement, in a clearly coordinated effort to embarrass Markarian and his Republican Party (HHK), the dominant force in Armenia's ruling coalition. The tone and the content of their speeches was hardly different from the discourse of their opposition colleagues.

One of the Orinats Yerkir lawmakers, Hovannes Markarian (no relation to the prime minister), accused the authorities of continuing to sell state property to their cronies at cut-down prices and sponsoring economic monopolies. He also alleged an "insufficient oversight of state procurements and budgetary expenditures." "Examples of that are numerous," he added without publicizing any of them.

Although many people accuse Baghdasaryan of populism and changing his opinion depending on whichever direction the wind is blowing, it's always interesting to look at rivalry in the coalition from the perspective of the potential issue of succession to Kocharian that will be upon us by the next Parliamentary Elections at the very latest.

Even so, it's interesting to note that once again, the failure of the law enforcement agencies to properly deal with the recent shoot-out in Yerevan was also raised by Orinats Yerkir although I noticed they didn't seem too bothered when the son of one of their ministers in the cabinet started firing off guns in a cafe close to where Kocharian and Saakashvili were dining last year.

Politics, politics. A dirty game everywhere but especially nowadays in Armenia. Even so, perhaps this rivalry and what it might mean for the local elections will push the population to stand their ground the next time someone attempts to buy or steal their votes.

RFE/RL's report, Ruling Parties Continue To Trade Accusations, can be read here.

Posted by Onnik on March 02, 2005 | TrackBack | Email to a friend