Has PAP introduced a requirement “to the prime minister”, or not?
“Realistic in terms of objectives and resources; strict and quick-responsive in terms of our willingness to discuss any such reasonable concern as may be raised by the public and political parties.” This is how Hovik Abrahamyan characterizes the government program, which he presented in the Parliament, and promised that people will “feel the change,” and added that the fight against the shadow will be ruthless and impartial. So far, it is not clear what this government is different from the previous one in terms of specific projects, and what changes will be implemented into the activities of the government, thanks to which, the government’s triennial program will provide 5 percent annual economic growth, the minimum wage will reach 65 thousand drams, and the poverty will be reduced from 35 percent to 25 percent.
Non-government forces of the Parliament first were stating that they do not intend to vote for Hovik Abrahamyan’s government program. At least, they were saying so, though there was no common decision. The “Magnificent Quartet” was trying to come to a common consent on rejecting the government program, but, as seen, the issue of confidence in Hovik Abrahamyan’s government will be approximately the same as it was with Galust Sahakyan’s voting. PAP and ARF, despite the public denial, however, do not exclude the possible of participating in the voting. Moreover, the PAP members are voicing estimates that they have decided to give time to Hovik Abrahamyan’s government. But not only PAP and ARF… For instances, quite unexpectedly the ANC MP Hrant Bagratyan expressed the following view, “I would like to honestly state that there are clauses in the government program, for which I have fought for years, and it is the first time that the government programs implies like a program. The previous government was using “targeted”, “interim”, “short-term”, “expanded” phrases. There was no substance in the program and we lost 6 years. Regardless of how I will vote, I like this government.”
Whereas the MP of the same faction Nikol Pashinyan raised the question of how Hovik Abrahamyan and his government members, in their tenure, have accumulated millions of dollars, and then delivered a crushing speech from the tribune of the Parliament, by criticizing the government members. ANC and the “Heritage” have not submitted recommendations about the government program, while PAP and ARF did. PAP MP Michael Melkumyan recently informed the journalists that the government has accept 5-6 of their proposed recommendations. PAP MPs ensure that their recommendations are quite a lot and they are aimed at restoring small and medium-sized businesses, but they do not specify on which recommendations are accepted. The criticism by the reps of non-ruling factions apparently do not bother the RPA, they are convinced that the Republican majority will pass the government program. The meeting of ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan and PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan was held on May 20.
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They discussed the collaboration between the two political parties, and the plans of non-ruling forces. The parties do not detail anything about the meeting, presumably because the PAP and ANC failed to agree on a common solution to one key issue of whether they need to “sacrifice” Hovik Abrahamyan or save him … When the journalists had asked Hovik Abrahamyan whether he will manage to meet PAP’s demands, the Prime Minister had made a remarkable “revelation”, “PAP has not introduced any requirement to me. What requirement, I do not know, has it introduced such a requirement to you? They say, well, we’ll see, if the program is implemented normally, and work normally, we will not make any requirement, if not, we will. This is a quite normal estimate, I’m happy.” In fact, the PAP MPs assure that the government had accepted 5-6 of their requirements, while Hovik Abrahamyan insists that PAP has not introduced any requirement “to him”…
EMMA GABRIELYAN
