BHK to vote against government’s plan?
The government will present its plan to the newly elected parliament soon. Politologists say the agreements between the parliamentary parties, particularly the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) will be clear depending on the vote of the parliamentary forces, especially the BHK.
In light of this, "A1+" sat down for an interview with BHK deputy, economist Mikayel Melkumyan.
"A1+": Mr. Melkumyan, the presses wrote that the three parliamentary forces, including the Armenian National Congress (HAK), Heritage Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) might vote against the government's plan. Is the BHK likely to join?
Mikayel Melkumyan: I don't rule anything out. We can't talk about that until we don't see the official plan.
"A1+": If the BHK votes for the government's plan, don't you think this will mean that the BHK is in agreement with the HHK without signing a coalition memorandum and that not forming a coalition was an act?
M. M.: If the BHK is not part of the government, it means that the BHK is an alternative. However, we are a constructive alternative. We will state what is good and what is bad. If we don't form a part of the government, we have to hold serious discussions and take a new decision.
"A1+": There are already views that the BHK will rarely have the courage to vote against the government's plan.
M. M.: What do they mean by courage? No matter what, the BHK is always courageous, has always been clean and that is why it garnered 500,000 votes. The BHK isn't afraid of anything and is moving forward with its platform. The party's working style, efforts and the leader's image determine how courageous the political party is.
"A1+": How would the BHK rate the former government?
M. M.: The government went along with its plan and didn't do many things. It has done many things, but as you can see, the country is not in a good social-economic state. Poverty has increased by 25.6 percent, but the government planned to reduce poverty by nearly 12 percent. The government had envisaged 10 percent increase in investments, but that was not the case. It planned to make the minimum salary be close to the minimum consumer basket or see a 8-10 percent increase of the GDP, but that didn't happen either. This means that some of the plans weren't implemented in 2008-2012. Some of the reasons are the crisis, and some are the low level of efficiency of governance.
"A1+": So, could we say that the BHK didn't implement that plan as part of the previous government?
M. M.: No, that's not what I meant. For instance, the BHK achieved some success in sports, and we have seen how the BHK achieved some success in healthcare.
"A1+": There are rumors that the BHK will be given the office of prime minister in exchange for supporting Serzh Sargsyan in the presidential elections and that the BHK will join the coalition.
M. M.: I don't know about that. The political parties haven't discussed that.
"A1+": On the one hand, the BHK didn't sign the coalition memorandum due to discrepancies and presented itself as an alternative, but on the other hand, Gagik Tsarukyan went to see Serzh Sargsyan off at the airport. How would you explain that?
M. M.: Frankly, I'm unaware of Gagik Tsarukyan seeing Serzh Sargsyan off at the airport. I just know that Gagik Tsarukyan is a member of the National security Council, but I don't know how and what the procedures are.
"A1+": Did Gagik Tsarukyan go to the airport based on the objectives of the National Security Council?
M. M.: No, I'm saying that there are probably procedures that are approved by state institutions. I have no information and can't answer your question.
Interview by Marine Kharatyan
