Rule of Law Withdraws from Ruling Coalition

The Rule of Law (OEK) party is withdrawing from the ruling coalition, said the party's vice chair Heghine Bisharyan yesterday evening. She said that OEK is unable within the ruling coalition to have an impact on the decision-making. 

According to the senior OEK figure, the Rule of Law party was unable to have an impact on the process of appointing either the prime minister or National Assembly chairs — the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) made those decisions unanimously, she said. Before the appointment of the new prime minister, HHK did not discuss the issue of OEK's nominated candidate. Bisharyan claims that OEK is moving to the ranks of the opposition, and OEK leader Artur Baghdasaryan will soon resign as secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council. 

This is OEK's second attempt to pull out of the ruling coalition. The first time this occurred was ahead of the presidential election in 2008, when Baghdasaryan appeared as an opposition candidate. According to official results, coming in third in the election, Baghdasaryan decided in February 2008 to back Serzh Sargsyan and in return he received the post of secretary of the National Security Council. OEK had 3 ministerial portfolios in the current administration. After the party's decision, acting Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Yeritzyan, acting Minister of Urban Development Samvel Tadevosyan, and acting Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan withdrew their OEK membership.