16/04/2014 21:41
Orinats Yerkir Party leaves coalition, gives up 3 ministerial portfolios
Following the sitting of its political board today, Orinats Yerkir Party (OEK) issued a statement saying that its further participation in the ruling coalition of Armenia is ‘problematic and inexpedient’.
The statement notes that the political board of OEK decided to grant the applications of OEK members – Ministers Armen Yeritsian, Sergo Karapetian and Hrant Tadevosian for their withdrawal from OEK.
The decision was taken after discussions and an assessment of the situation that has emerged in the country following the statement of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at the sitting of the Specialized Commission on Constitutional Reforms, the Constitutional Court’s decision on recognition of a number of provisions of the Law on Accumulative Pensions (the introduction of the compulsory component of the accumulative pension system) as unconstitutional, the government’s resignation, and the appointment of a new prime minister (Hovik Abrahamian who previously served as speaker of the parliament).
While indicating the achievements made in coalition with the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) in the last six years, the political board of OEK nonetheless says: “We failed to implement our numerous election programs, which is evidenced, for example, by over two dozen drafts, which have remained in the National Assembly for years without becoming laws, despite numerous debates”.
By the decision of the OEK political board, in reality the format of the coalition was inefficient, due to which the concept of the “ruling political force’ was introduced instead of the notion of a ‘ruling coalition’. Besides, the coalition’s format did not allow OEK to influence the process of taking important decisions and making appointments to key posts.
The political board of OEK also indicates the party’s position – made public earlier- concerning the appointment of the OEK leader, Secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council Arthur Baghdasarian as Armenian prime minister.
The party also believes that the new government should be composed of a well-educated and competent team capable of implementing reforms and setting up a foreign economic agenda of Armenia in cooperation with international financial organizations and important partners, from the Customs Union to the European Union.
“Given the 6-year experience in the coalition, Orinats Yerkir Party could view the assumption of a real role, which cannot be carried out in case of three ministerial portfolios offered, as the only well-founded reason for remaining in the coalition. OEK believes that the concentration of the country’s first persons in the hands of one political force does not create a real opportunity for activities of the coalition authorities, giving them a formal character, not a real one,” the document says.
The political board of OEK, “admitting that HHK as the political majority has enough potential for forming a government single-handedly and bearing full political responsibility”, also taking into account the OEK’s political agenda for the future, thanks Armenian President, HHK Chairman Serzh Sargsyan for joint work and wished success to the newly appointed Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian.