Epress.am News from Armenia
Quite serious, hidden things are fermenting in Armenia’s ruling elite, which one way or another are tied to recent developments, writes local daily 168 Zham (“168 Hours”), citing its sources close to the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).
The paper notes that it’s referring to Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and, in particular, the change in Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s attitude toward him. According to the paper’s information, being discussed in the ruling elite these days is Tigran Sargsyan’s unduly active political involvement and the overt and hidden steps he’s taken, which, according to the same sources, have begun to displease Serzh Sargsyan.
Apart from distributing HHK membership cards and undertaking the role of inner-party functions, the prime minister has recently also begun to demonstrate clearly personal ambitions. According to 168 Zham, the presidential office discovered that recent media reports that Tigran Sargsyan might be considered the next presidential candidate are circulated not only not without his knowledge, but also sometimes with his participation. According to rumors spread at the government level, Serzh Sargsyan was angered particularly because Tigran Sargsyan approached the role reserved for him way too seriously (that is, the showy image of a smart prime minister) and has even moved on to thinking about bigger games.
In addition, the president has begun to get agitated also by the PM’s “fake piety” and his way of gathering similar people around him. And it on this basis that some have been explaining the serious accusations recently made against the PM by Harutyun Arakelyan. The paper concludes by saying that most likely these accusations will not have undesirable consequences for Tigran Sargsyan (or they won’t at present), but this way, Serzh Sargsyan wants to make it be understood that just as “you gave birth, so too you can sacrifice.”
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