PP AND NDP SURPRISES

Tigran Karapetyan\’s list became a ring buoy for those former members of “Rule of Law” Party /Orinats Erkir Party, OEP/, who didn\’t manage to be included in other pr-authority parties.

The sessions of both People\’s Party and National Democratic Party were held on February 25. PP 12th session held in the hall of government\’s sittings takes us by surprise more. And not for the reason that Tigran Karapetyan announced he would participate in the forthcoming elections separately. It isn\’t also surprising that national minorities are also included in the PP list: two Ezedis and an Assyrian. The greatest surprise is the presence of former members of “Rule of Law” Party in the PP list. There is no mean to mention who leads the list. The second in the list is the brother of Kotayk\’s republican governor Kovalenko Shahgaldyan, Artaks Sargsyan who left the OEP and then became RPA member is the fourth in the list, the fifth one is former minister of town-planning Ara Aramyan, and Gagik Mkheyan is the sixth in the list. In answer to our question why he gave the first passing places of the list to the OEP former members instead of giving to his closest adherents like Petros Katsakhyan and other PP politicians, Tigran Karapetyan said: ” First of all who does determine which place is passing? Secondly, Katsakhyan is in the first ten places. I\’m a politician and take into consideration everyone\’s resource and authority”.
We have talked to Samvel Shahgaldyan beforehand who explained his appearance in the PP list in the following way: “I have close relations with Tigran Karapetyan and have always collaborated with each other, though it hasn\’t been elucidated”. The latter will be nominated by majority electoral system.
In his turn Tigran Karapetyan told that he had himself proposed Samvel Shahgaldyan and Gagik Mkheyan to recruit his party. Mkheyan has even hesitated, as he doesn\’t want to be the sixth in the list. T. Karapetyan explained what he mean saying that he had taken into consideration everyone\’s resource: “Mkheyan Gagik is an apparatchik and knows the NA work well. With Samvel Shahgaldyan I connect the future working representation. Our motto is to open employments, and he will assist in achieving it. As for SAS Artak /the owner of SAS supermarket/, he is my friend\’s son, we live in the same building. There aren\’t interests here, there is a political aim and we\’ll unite our efforts to achieve it”.
The list of Shavarsh Kocharyan\’s headed National Democratic Party was published in the 7th session held in one of the halls of Ani Hotel. There is a representative of the authority in that list; she is Hranush Kharatyan, the chief of department of National Minorities and Religious Issues. According to our sources, she\’s going to dismiss from her position. Besides she isn\’t going to become the NDP member. There other non-party politicians in the NDP list, too, who are the representatives of “Havatarmutiun” civil initiative. 72 politicians are included in the NDP list, but the names of some famous figures of the party were absent. Shavarsh Kocharian noted in his speech: “There has never been such a demolished and separated opposition in Armenia. It\’s very sorrowful.” He also added that it was late to form great oppositionist blocs but the oppositionists must think about controlling the NA elections jointly.