The president and the Republican
Party have authorized already Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan to make
government staff reshuffles, says Eduard Sharmazanov, RPA Spokesperson, Vice Speaker of the
Armenian Parliament. According to him, Hovik Abrahamyan is authorized to
appoint ministers, including from other political forces, based on their
professional skills only. “However,” Sharmazanov says, the appointments must
not be based on the logic of affinity or friendship. He says a ruling coalition
may be formed and ARFD has taken rather a constructive stance to this end. Sharmazanov refuted media reports about
dismissal of the former prime minister Tigran Sargsyan because of his political
course that ran contrary the process of Armenia’s accession to the Customs
Union.
“Tigran
Sargsyan’s government has done almost half of the work on that way, and
Abrahamyan will continue it,” Sharmazanov says.
According to him, the ex-PM Tigran Sargsyan will continue his political
career in the diplomacy field.
According to ArmInfo’s high-ranking sources in the
RPA, Hovik Abrahamyan is likely to take David Haroutiunyan, the head of the
Parliament Committee for State and Legal Affairs, to the Government as the
Justice Minister. It is widely rumored
that Karen Karapetyan, a Republican MP, brother of Samvel Karapetyan, who owns Tashir Concern, will be appointed as
the Parliament Speaker. Another probable nominee for the post of the speaker is
Vice Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, according to ArmInfo’s sources in the RPA.