by Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) passed the new governmental program on May 22. The creation of new jobs, the struggle with the shadow economy, promotion of competition in business and invitation of foreign investments were listed as the priority goals of the document. The government plans to lift VAT at the border, form an All-Armenian investment fund and subsidize agriculture.
Members of the opposition factions Dashnaktsutyun, Heritage, Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and the Armenian National Congress (ANC) have called the program empty words aimed only at robbing the population. Oppositionists say that it is nothing but the old government program with little stylistic adjustments and that the government cannot realize the reforms.
HHK member Stepan Margaryan noted that the government of Tigran Sargsyan had destroyed the Armenian economy, leaving it in ruins. “The situation cannot be characterized in any other way than as a serious threat to national security.” Armen Rustamyan of the Dashnaktsutyun faction stated: “We can compose an excellent program, then fail to realize it and face no penalties, the way it happened with the previous government. There is no answer to the question of why the previous government resigned.”
The four opposition parties decided to boycott the vote. Members of the Orinats Yerkir Party (OEK – Rule of Law), which has recently parted with the ruling coalition, skipped voting for the government program.
The government program got 70 votes for, one against. Two MPs abstained from voting. Discussions of the document went on according to a classic scheme in which HHK holds the monopoly of power. The OEK faction was suddenly abandoned by MP Karen Botoyan on the day of the vote. Being a businessman, he decided to support the government program. However, the Constitution forbids lawmakers from being engaged in business. Obviously, Botoyan was under pressure. Pressure could have also been put on independent MP Edmon Marukyan, who voted for the government program as well. Video cameras recorded HHK members voting for absent lawmakers oligarch Samvel Aleksanyan and brother of ex-Prosecutor General Agvan Ovsepyan Ruben. The problem is that the parliamentary majority consists of 69 MPs after the loss of the support of the OEK. This brings the coalition close to the minimum number of votes needed to pass laws, 66. HHK has been lacking resources for a month, as seen on May 22.
The well-running governmental mechanism to achieve the desired results has started malfunctioning. Problems with financial resources and the unpleasant situation in the parliament do not seem to correlate with the victorious rhetoric of the Republican Party, which claims it will stay in power for the next 10 years.
