The fact that Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) member Bagrat Yesayan, the editor-in-chief of Yerkir newspaper, and Spartak Seyranyan, a member of the party’s Supreme Body, have not been included in the ARF list for proportional representation has caused a lot of debate. Have those who have not been included in the list really taken an offense? Armen Rustamyan, a member of the ARF Supreme Body, assured during a conversation with www.aravot.am that there was no such thing at all, “If it had been so, they would have said. There is no such thing. We have a huge group that has not been included in the list, how can it be that we take an offense at each other writing one list? Lists are temporary, our struggle remains united. It doesn’t mean that the ones who are not on the list are out of struggle. At the end of the day, when we work in the faction, it is not only our force, is it? At the end of the day, we only represent the organization, we feel it behind us – they will require of us to be consistent and to report on our actions at every turn. Faction cannot work arbitrarily and the organization cannot step aside. They will demand a report from us all the time. We are represented in more than 30 countries. I don’t want to humiliate other parties, but there is no such force in the Armenian reality – both in Armenia and abroad.”
In Spartak Seyranyan’s words, “Why should anyone be offended because of not being included in the party list?” In response to a question whether he had expected that he would not be on the list, he said, “There was no issue of expecting, everyone has its functions. The selection of functions is a reason neither for offense nor for excitement for anyone. The work is carried out not only in the parliament. And it doesn’t mean that those who are not in the parliament will fulfill less important functions than the others. The parliament has its framework of functions and analytical work has its.” In response to our question whether he didn’t want to become an MP, Spartak Seyranyan said, “I have a work orientation, I choose that myself. And the place, where one works, doesn’t matter. What I do today, I do it in the right place and it seems to me that I do it successfully.”
The fact of including Karen Shahmuradyan, the owner of Armenia-Lada, in the 10th place on the list is also highly debated. In response to our question whether he was ready to work in the legislative body well, without absences, to be active, Armen Rustamyan assured that yes, “He is well-educated in economics, he will be very useful. Certainly, he must respect the provisions of the Constitution and cannot work combining it with business, we will watch over it.”
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Hripsime JEBEJYAN
