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Tsarukian, Dashnaks Coy About Return To Government


Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisan (L) discusses the impending appointment of a new prime minister with Armenian Revolutionary Federation leader Armen Rustamian in Yerevan, 19Apr2013.
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisan (L) discusses the impending appointment of a new prime minister with Armenian Revolutionary Federation leader Armen Rustamian in Yerevan, 19Apr2013.
Representatives of the Prosperous Armenia Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Monday did not rule out the possibility of rejoining the government which will be reshuffled due to Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian’s resignation.

“I don’t see that happening for the moment,” said Mikael Melkumian, a senior BHK lawmaker. “But time will tell. It’s too early to talk about that.” “The situation may change within days,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Armen Rustamian, a Dashnaktsutyun leader, said his party will be ready to take up ministerial portfolios in the new government if President Serzh Sarkisian meets a set of specified conditions. He referred to a policy paper released by Dashnaktsutyun in 20012.

The 7-point document calls, among other things, for Armenia’s transformation into a parliamentary republic and the conduct of parliamentary elections only on the party-list basis. It also demands the annulment of controversial Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements signed in 2009.

Dashnaktsutyun offered to endorse Sarkisian ahead of the February 2013 presidential election if he agreed to meet these demands. The president declined to cut such a deal.

Both Dashnaktsutyun and the BHK used to be part of Armenia’s governing coalition. Dashnaktsutyun withdrew from the government in 2009 in protest against Sarkisian’s policy of rapprochement with Turkey. The more influential BHK, which is led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian, followed suit three years later.

In recent months, the two parties have increasingly cooperated with each other and the more radical opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and Zharangutyun party. Both the HAK and Zharangutyun stand for President Sarkisian’s resignation and have ruled out the possibility of joining his new government.
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