On August 9, 2011, in the framework of dialogue with the government coalition, the ANC delegation has presented 85-page document on “Substantiation for the need to hold extraordinary presidential and parliamentary elections in Armenia and to form a legitimate government”. The document says about the rigged elections of 2008, March 1 slaughter, the subsequent unprecedented repression, and many other negative things. However, some provisions in this document seem to be outdated.
So, the section on “legitimacy of the parliament” gives reasons why extraordinary parliamentary elections should also be held. In particular, it lists the names of 76 MPs, who in violation of the Constitution, Article 65, simultaneously are engaged in business activities. The 22 out of 76 MPs listed are from PAP and 5 of them are from ARF. Many of them continue to hold the seats of an MP also in the current National Assembly; other businessmen are also added to the mentioned factions. But they apparently do not violate the Constitution and are not engaged in business.
Therefore, the following assessments partly can be considered as “null and void”: “as a result of clear and comprehensive integration of political activities and entrepreneurship, the National Assembly”, namely, “has turned into a structure serving for the interests of individual oligarchs, big business, economic clans and monopolists”, “given the strict control and entrepreneurship dependence on the current government, it was deprived of its exclusively political and legislative meaning and the opportunity to counterbalance the executive power, it has become an attachment to the government and a punch of its legislative initiatives.” Or, perhaps, the authorities have become so democratic that they have weakened the “strict control and dependence over the business.”
In the item on “Corruption and Governance failure”, there is a reference to the second President of Armenia. “Only the latter’s (Robert Kocharyan – A. A.) accrued property of 4 billion dollars recorded during his office demonstrates the scale of performed state racket, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, makes it clear what mechanism was applied that the half of the national wealth had appeared in the hands of four dozen family in the short period of time.” During the following two and a half years, probably, it was turned out that the allegations about the 4 billion dollar are from the series of rumors, or the second president repented pertaining to the “scale of performed state racket” and the 4 billion dollar was transferred to the orphanages. This “four dozen family” has become, let’s say, three dozen.
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In reality, of course, almost all the allegations found in the “substantiation” are true. Only these substantiations would be necessary to hold extraordinary presidential and parliamentary elections every day.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
