Epress.am News from Armenia
In a formal sense, former Yerevan mayor Gagik Beglaryan’s resignation is justified, said political analyst and blogger Suren Surenyants, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today. “However, I think that the mayor’s status and one having a public position should have restrained from interfering in a scandalous incident.”
On the other hand, Surenyants doesn’t believe Armenian authorities’ insistence that, with Beglaryan’s resignation, “a phase of establishing order and the fight against lawlessness” began in the country, saying he considers such assertions misplaced.
“I am deeply convinced that if an ordinary citizen was harmed as a result of what Gagik Beglaryan did, he would have continued to remain in office,” he said.
According to Surenyants, the target was a member of the president’s staff and RA President Serzh Sargsyan attempted to show who really holds the power in the country. “This was not so much an attempt at establishing order, but a manifestation of the power of the president.”
Ten days ago, that same Republican Party of Armenia MP Rafik Petrosyan would’ve fawned upon Beglaryan to meet with him, said the analyst. “Now Petrosyan speaks of Beglaryan’s gangster logic. Though Rafik Petrosyan, probably, doesn’t have the right to make such statements because he is a member of the same gang.”
“One gets the impression that it’s a feast of jackals. They have chosen a target, a victim, so that we… can say, they are able to lick the paw of a lion. I got such an impression after reading the comments of some Republican [Party of Armenia] members,” he concluded.