"Hraparak" writes.
The fact that "Strong Armenia" faction MP Aram Vardevanyan was elected to the position of NA deputy speaker yesterday caused a stir not only in some opposition circles, but also in the ruling team itself, as a result of good will, Vardevanyan became the third deputy speaker of the parliament as a result of a secret vote. This is the requirement of the Dont Resolution and the Constitution, within the framework of parliamentary control, the opposition parties are given control levers, according to the Constitution, in the form of the positions of chairmen of standing committees and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
Taking into account the experience of the previous parliament, when the government and the opposition were dog and cat, and due to the events, at some point the opposition parties refused to chair the NA standing committees, and the ruling majority, based on personal sympathies, repeatedly tried to overthrow Ishkhan Saghatelyan as the NA deputy speaker and Artur Ghazinyan as the deputy chairman of the NA standing committee on defense, among some opposition circles, the election of Aram Vardevanyan on the first attempt opened another field of criticism that: There are some shady arrangements between the "powerful" and the authorities, and as a result of them, Vardevanyan appeared unhindered in the NA presidency.
The point is that if the CP members did not vote in favor, the two opposition factions together did not have enough votes to elect, so the CP announced that they had a political decision and 13 of them would vote in favor of Vardevanyan's candidacy. The leader of the faction emphasized that although they do not have any constitutional obligation to vote in favor, but since they are in favor of constructive and polite relations, they will not defeat the election of the opposition partner. And the passions in the ruling team were more heated, of course, not among ordinary backpackers, but among the deputies who put their backpacks above their backpacks.
We were informed that the issue was not discussed in the faction and was not accepted by consensus. We also learned that there were not a few CP members who were categorically against voting for Vardevanyan, precisely because they declare that "Strong Armenia" entered the parliament as a result of "electoral fraud", "bought or stole the people's vote", and now, in fact, they are voting for the "candidate of vote stealers", legitimizing them. We were told that these discussions have ended the instruction, the leader of the faction Arusyak Manavazyan conveyed the leader's message and chose who should participate in the vote for Vardevanyan, securing the required votes.
This is very similar to the vote of May 8, 2018, when the RPA secured the number of votes necessary for Nikol Pashinyan to become Prime Minister. And the elected deputies were smart and voted for the opposition candidate. Moreover, our sources even have doubts as to why such a decision was made, in the event that the discussion of Aram Vardevanyan's issue in the parliament did not go particularly smoothly, he was accused of "devil's advocate" and pretending to be an "Oscar" award, acting, beating water and not answering questions, being a karate player, etc. It is unnecessary to remind what kind of blows Nikol Pashinyan and his teammates gave to the "powerful" below the waist during the pre-election period, what kind of ugly counter-propaganda they did, seasoned with false information.
According to a CP source, intense political developments are expected in the fall, and by making such a gesture to the opposition or, as the CP members say, by showing good will towards them, Nikol Pashinyan, according to everything, hopes to take them out of radical positions and bring them into a more constructive field of interaction, reducing their chances of winning. There are several other factors. After his last visit to Russia, Pashinyan was given harsh warnings and given time: either he has to decide where the country is going, or they will start a new and cruel phase of repression, which can paralyze not only his government, but also the country. Nikol Pashinyan has also decided to ease the pressure on the pro-Russian opposition, hoping that at that stage they will act from a less radical position and will inadvertently become a bridge between him and the Russian authorities.
And one circumstance. The West does not take kindly to this kind of persecution of the opposition, and in 2021-26. Apparently, the tough attitude towards the opposition in the parliament did not receive a positive assessment.
