Armenia’s business parliament

Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia on May 6. All parties that make up the ruling coalition - the Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia, Rule of Law ("Orinats erkir"), the opposition parties - the National Congress of Armenia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Legacy, Free Democrats, as well as Communist Party of Armenia expressed the desire to participate in the elections.

On March 12 the procedure for nomination of candidates for parliament began, which lasted until March 22.

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia said that it intends to nominate 33 candidates in the elections under the plurality voting system.

Under current law, the parliament is formed by a mixed system. 75 deputies are elected by proportional representation (party list), 56 deputies are elected in single member constituencies. The opposition demands transition to a fully proportional system. In its opinion, mainly candidates nominated by plurality voting system are engaged in bribery, selling votes on the eve of the election campaign.

Of the current 131 members of parliament of Armenia 76 are actively engaged in business, each of whom is an oligarch - the owner of a number of firms and companies. We can say that as a result of the merger of business with politics the Armenian parliament has become a public administration, subordinated to the government and protecting the interests of various economic oligarchs and clans.

In accordance with Article 56 of the Armenian Constitution, "deputies, except for science, education and creativity, can not engage in entrepreneurial activities, can not hold office in any state or local authority".

The tradition of the current Parliament will continue during the next parliamentary elections in 2012, and MPs representing the ruling party, such as Tigran Arzakantsyan - the owner of the company engaged in the production of cognac "Great Valley", Samvel Alexanian, nicknamed "Lfik Samo", the head of the company "Alex Grig", Levon Sargsyan, known as "flour Lyova", who is the owner of the mills and the hotel "Ararat Park Hyatt Samvel" in Moscow, and others are going to participate in parliamentary elections.

Parliamentary elections are held at a time when 50 - 60 percent of voters, whose participation is not expected, are not in the country.

After nine months presidential election will take place in Armenia. Confusion reigns in the country. People who do not believe in its future, talented, capable and intelligent people, tortured by anti-democratic political system and corruption are leaving Armenia.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in 2001 the population of the country was 3,002,598 persons. However, in 2011 the population was 2,871,509 people. That is, over the past 10 years the population decreased by 131,089 people. If you look at the information taken from unofficial sources, over the past 10 years nearly half a million citizens has left Armenia. Hence, the approximate number of Armenian citizens is 2.5 million people.

The main cause of migration, of course, is a difficult social situation of the people, and one of the main objective reasons for this are such issues as the Armenian-Turkish relations and unresolved status of the Karabakh conflict. Subjective factors are violation of the principles of democracy, corruption, violation of human rights on a state scale, etc. All this is happening amid fiery patriotic speeches and festivities in connection with "victory" in recognition of "genocide".

The French Senate voted on January 23 for the bill, which provides for criminal proceedings against those who deny the "Armenian genocide". Armenian leaders, boundless gratitude to the leadership of France, noted the event as a brilliant victory of diplomacy.

As is known, the French government has taken totally independently this step, main task of which was to prevent the process of Turkey's accession to the EU, and at the same time - to win the votes of the Armenian diaspora in the presidential election. Hence, the role of diplomacy is merely a fiction, a myth. But the "joy" did not last long: the French Constitutional Council repelled the unconstitutional decision of the Senate. The Armenian leadership does not want to understand that with the adoption of this law a lot of tension arises in relations with Turkey, the problems associated with security and economic development in the region will further deepen.

Armenian political elite does not want to think about the future, as if lives its past. This hinders the development of sustainable economic progress, peace, stability and relations with neighboring countries - mainly with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Only the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey can benefit and be of great importance for the whole South Caucasus region.

The Armenian leadership does not want to understand it, and MPs elected in such circumstances are not able to take political and economic decisions that reflect the interests and wishes of the people.

Consequently, the challenge is to ensure mandatory win during elections of current political regime, continuation by Armenia of the process of "desertification" and the ruthless plundering of the people.


Arzu Naghiyev /Trend/