As a result of the initiative of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary group to convene an extraordinary session on the Harsnakar case, tensions around the very Heritage Party have risen. While only 7 out of 37 PAP group members signed, the fact that Heritage Party MP Raffi Hovhannisyan didn’t sign has become a subject of speculations. The PAP has seemingly launched an attack. Naira Zohrabyan, the secretary of its parliamentary group, even said that the PAP had better not take part in the initiatives, in which the Heritage Party would also participate, in the short run. That opinion is shared by other PAP members too. www.aravot.am inquired of Armen Martirosyan, the deputy chairman of the Heritage Party executive committee, how he would explain those attacks of the PAP. In Armen Martirosyan’s opinion, individual members of the PAP expressed their opinions, therefore, he doesn’t consider it as a PAP attack on the Heritage Party, “Anyway, parties in the parliament cooperate with each other on different issues and in all those cases when there is a joint approach, naturally, that cooperation is more material. I don’t think that these opinions will have any impact from the long-term perspective.”
As for Raffi Hovhannisyan’s not signing, Armen Martirosyan refers to the official explanation gotten from the Central Election Commission (CEC) that Hovhannisyan hasn’t even assumed the office, “Therefore, Raffi Hovhannisyan is basically not engaged in parliamentary activities at the moment, therefore, I think benefitting from this issue is far from being right. There is also a decision of the executive committee that we will discuss the issue of Raffi Hovhannisyan’s parliamentary activities in the fall.”
Elinar Vardanyan, a member of the PAP parliamentary group and the head of the National Assembly Human Rights Protection and Public Affairs standing commission, said in one of her interviews, “I also share the assessments of my colleague – the Heritage Party is not an
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independent force. Moreover, the Heritage Party is not a force anymore. Some old members of the Heritage Party who enjoyed popularity were pushed to the sidelines, as a result of some incomprehensible deal; people who have other missions, other instructions have come, instead.”
We inquired of Armen Martirosyan whether he considered himself one of those who had been pushed to the sidelines, “as a result of some incomprehensible deal,” since he was not a member of the Heritage Party parliamentary group anymore and generally what he thought of the assessment that the Heritage Party was not a force anymore. Our interlocutor replied, “I have obtained my right to be on the political stage during the past years, which is not conditional on my being or not being an MP. As for the fact that our young colleague has used such an expression, perhaps, it seems to her that if she makes “sharp” definitions about the Heritage Party, it is very good for her political career. I don’t think so. Anyway, she has joined the ranks of those who run the Heritage Party down and have been continuously stating during the past years that the Heritage Party doesn’t exist anymore.”
More details in the video.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
