Artur Baghdasaryan quits as National Security Secretary

Artur Baghdasaryan quits as National Security Secretary

PanARMENIAN.Net - Artur Baghdasaryan is quitting his post as a National Security Council (NSC) Secretary, Panorama.am reported.

At a meeting with reporters, Baghdasaryan said that he took into account the decision of Orinats Yerkir Party not to join the new coalition. He thanked the NSC staff for their joint work over the past six years.

"President Serzh Sargsyan is my friend, but each of us has our own vision. From now on, we'll follow different paths, and I intend not to shy away from criticizing whatever actions I find unreasonable," Baghdasaryan said.

"I do not rule out running for president in the 2018 elections," Baghdasaryan said. “Much will change during the next 3-4 years,” he added.

Baghdasaryan also noted that according to an agreement with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev, Moscow will ease migration legislation for Armenian citizens.

“We are at a transitional stage and, until we join the Customs Union, the agreements reached will help pass this stage without any shocks,” he said.

Following the sitting of its political board, Orinats Yerkir Party issued a statement on April 16 saying that its further participation in the ruling coalition of Armenia is ‘problematic and inexpedient.’

The statement notes that the political board of Orinats Yerkir decided to approve the applications of the party members – Ministers Armen Yeritsyan, Sergo Karapetyan and Hrant Tadevosyan for their withdrawal from the party.

The decision was taken after discussions and an assessment of the situation following the statement of President Serzh Sargsyan at the sitting of the Specialized Commission on Constitutional Reforms, the Constitutional Court’s decision on recognition of a number of provisions of the law on cumulative pensions as unconstitutional, the government’s resignation, and the appointment of ex-speaker Hovik Abrahamyan as a new prime minister.

While indicating the achievements made in coalition with the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) in the last six years, the political board of Orinats Yerkir noted: “We failed to implement our numerous election programs, which is evidenced, for example, by over two dozen drafts, which have remained in the National Assembly for years without becoming laws, despite numerous debates”.

According to the Orinats Yerkir political board, the format of the coalition was inefficient, due to which the concept of the “ruling political force’ was introduced instead of the notion of a ‘ruling coalition’. Besides, the coalition’s format did not allow Orinats Yerkir to influence the process of taking important decisions and making appointments to key posts.

The political board of the party also indicates the party’s position – made public earlier- concerning the appointment of the party leader, Secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council Arthur Baghdasaryan as Armenian prime minister.

The party also believes that the new government should be composed of a well-educated and competent team capable of implementing reforms and setting up a foreign economic agenda of Armenia in cooperation with international financial organizations and important partners, from the Customs Union to the European Union.

“Given the 6-year experience in the coalition, Orinats Yerkir Party could view the assumption of a real role, which cannot be carried out in case of three ministerial portfolios offered, as the only well-founded reason for remaining in the coalition. The party believes that the concentration of the country’s first persons in the hands of one political force does not create a real opportunity for activities of the coalition authorities, giving them a formal character, not a real one,” the document says.

The political board of Orinats Yerkir, “admitting that RPA as the political majority has enough potential for forming a government single-handedly and bearing full political responsibility”, also taking into account the Orinats Yerkir’s political agenda for the future, thanked Armenian President, RPA Chairman Serzh Sargsyan for joint work and wished success to the newly appointed Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.

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