Outraged Armenian president 'sorts out' ministers

The thing people both inside and outside Armenia were expecting for a long time has finally happened. President Serzh Sargsyan could not resist. His nerves broke down completely. He could not stand the foreign and domestic pressure ... and began to feverishly dismiss his ministers.

On Monday, it was reported that Transport and Communications Minister Gurgen Sarkisian and Emergency Situations Minister Mher Shahgeldyan had suddenly resigned.

According to official reports, the Rule of Law party somehow discussed the activities of the transport and emergency situations ministers at a meeting of the party's Political Council.

"Following the discussions, the party decided to withdraw their nominations. Sarkisian and Shahgeldyan retain their positions in the party's leadership by taking on other functions," party spokesperson Susanna Abrahamyan said.

It should be noted that the centrist Rule of Law party, the Republican Party of Armenia and the Prosperous Armenia party have composed a coalition formed after the 2008 presidential elections. The parties have the right to nominate and revoke ministerial discretion. In the current government, Rule of Law holds three ministerial portfolios.

How come the party decided to discuss the activities of its two members? Why didn't it discuss Gerasim Alaverdyan, the Rule of Law member, who is the agriculture minister?  

Certainly, the party made this move after convincing recommendations from the paranoid authorities. Indeed, Sargsyan faces pressure from a great deal of sources. He faces both foreign and domestic pressure not only from the opposition, but, more significantly, from his apparent allies and supporters. Separately, it is worth noting constant pressure from former President Robert Kocharian who sees himself as able to take over the presidential chair once again.

Sargsyan’s nerves, which suffered greatly in a number of tense situations, seem to have finally started to break down. As if foreboding a stab in the back by his allies, the Armenian president has decided to “sort out” his ministers.

It seemed Sargsyan would remove members of the Prosperous Armenia party established under Kocharian’s patronage from ministerial posts as a first step. But Sargsyan is not willing to have open confrontation. He is either not courageous enough or is afraid to do so.

The abovesaid ministers could not complete their second years in office. The tenure of 43-year-old Shahgeldyan was remarkably nonsensical. He is a political scientist and has never actually dealt with republican-scale emergencies during his career. He also worked at the Yerevan Lamp Factory as a tester. Apparently, his two-year experience as a tester seemed was sufficient enough to be appointed as a minister. It is unclear what he was doing in his chair for nearly two years.  

In the meantime, the Rule of Law has decided to submit Manuk Vardanyan's candidacy as the transport and communications minister and Armen Yeritsian's candidacy as the emergency situations minister for approval to the Armenia president. Their nominations have not yet been presented to the public. We dare to hope they are not freshman in their fields.
 

H. Hamidov