Bagrat Asatryan, the former director of the Central Bank, made a statement about former President Robert Kocharyan at Hayeli (mirror) Club today. According to him, Robert Kocharyan, wishing to form a solely-governed Cabinet and legislative body, urged a set of businessmen to buy parties, “Kocharyan tried to sell the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) to Vardanyans of Grand Candy at the time, didn’t he?”
During a conversation with www.aravot.am, in response to a question why that deal had not been carried through, whether Vardanyan hadn’t wished to buy or perhaps the ARF hadn’t wished to be sold, Mr. Asatryan said, “The ARF was a bit stronger, it had stronger inner resources, it overcame and left, which the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (ADLP) did not manage. Perhaps the reason why the ARF did not become pro-Kocharyan was its strength.”
According to Mr. Asatryan, Kovharyan’s perception of the internal political situation was that mature personalities should own some strong parties, privatize them, in order that he could dictate to everyone through businessmen, “He wanted to attach businessmen to parties. As a result, the ADLP got off the political stage, that party was dissolved. The solutions were determined then and now we will see from the Republican Party list what Serzh Sargsyan is going to do. Robert Kocharyan himself said publicly that the Republican Party list had been made by him, probably at that time he meant the businessmen he had involved. Let us see now, let Serzh Sargsyan make the list public, then we will make an assessment who has made it and we will see by whom the Republican Party is represented and what will be with those businessmen.”
In response to our observation that there was a conflict between Serzh Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan, there was an issue of handing over the power, whether it was possible that Serzh Sargsyan would let Robert Kocharyan make the Republican Party list, he said “I wouldn’t use the word ‘conflict,’ I would be very careful. I don’t know whether it is a conflict or a changed policy. It is obvious that Serzh Sargsyan does some things to make some changes, but the election will show whether Serzh Sargsyan has a real intention or he just does formal things. Will he do – as Kocharyan did – everything to destroy the internal political stage, to become a sole ruler, to rule out political debate, to subdue everything or will he let parliament be a political body? With Kocharyan it was clear, he wanted to make a puppet out of the parliament and today the Cabinet is basically a puppet.”
Read also
Bagrat Asatryan assured, talking about the level of the parliament, that if a 4th-grade exam was conducted, very low percentage of the parliament members would pass it.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
