PRO-ESTABLISHMENT FORCES WRAP UP POWER-SHARING PROCESS
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 6 2007
Tense political consultations that went on for weeks ended on Wednesday
as three pro-establishment parties appeared to agree on the future
government’s composition.
The Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and the Prosperous Armenia
Party (BHK), the top two finishers in Armenia’s recent parliamentary
elections, signed a memorandum on a coalition government in which
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s ruling party is set to preserve a
lion’s share of portfolios.
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF) is expected
to keep three of its current four positions in the executive after
signing a cooperation deal with the new coalition partners later in
the afternoon. However, as the party’s top representative told RFE/RL,
this deal was signed for a period until the next presidential elections
due early next year.
Unlike Dashnaktsutyun, the two parties of the emerging coalition have
agreed on close partnership until the next parliamentary elections.
The HHK and BHK share between themselves as many as 90 seats in the
131-member National Assembly. However, only 25 of these seats belong
to the BHK.
Wealthy businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s pro-presidential party is
hoping for at least two portfolios in the Sarkisian cabinet, namely
the health and urban development ministries.
The HHK won an outright parliament majority in last month’s elections
that practically gave it the muscle to lead the future government
single-handedly. But since the announcement of the election results
in mid-May the party leadership has been willing to share government
responsibility presumably in anticipation of future partners’ support
for its leader’s presidential ambitions.
The HHK’s former junior coalition partner, Dashnaktsutyun, that
currently holds 16 seats in the legislature, is likely to have its
ministers continue in agriculture, education and social security due
to its cooperation deal. While Dashnaktsutyun’s representative will
continue to serve as social security minister, under the agreement
this position is considered to belong to the HHK.
But the pro-presidential party’s refusal to join the coalition
government is believed to leave room for its maneuvering during next
year’s presidential race and possibly for fielding its own candidate
for presidency.
The party is also expected to maintain its high-profile in parliament
due to having its members in several key positions, including deputy
speaker and heads of the foreign relations and defense committees.
The HHK is likely to maintain the speaker’s post and leadership in
the rest of the parliamentary committees. A BHK representative is
likely to head a standing committee on European integration yet to
be formed in the new parliament.
Only three of the HHK’s current ministers will be serving as
parliament members, namely Justice Minister David Harutiunian,
Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Chshmaritian,
and Environment Minister Vartan Ayvazian. The other HHK-affiliated
ministers included in the party’s slate during the elections rejected
their parliamentary mandates.
It also transpired at the end of the day that the Central Election
Commission (CEC) had received an application from HHK member Khachik
Manukian elected to parliament from one of the single-mandate
constituencies in which the elected representative rejected his
parliamentary mandate without providing any reasoning.
However, Manukian later told RFE/RL he had not filed any application
and learned about it from news.