Overthrowing the Prime Minister is an Old Armenian Custom it Seems

The practice of overthrowing prime ministers has become an old Armenian custom, said Republican Party of Armenia MP Gagik Minasyan at a press conference today, while commenting on recent reports that RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan may be removed from his position.

Earlier, the prime minister was criticized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, ARF-D), the Prosperous Armenia Party from the parliamentary coalition and Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharian.

Minasyan mentioned that as far as he remembered such attempts to overthrow the prime minister have always been made toward all prime ministers.

“Mr. Sargsyan is working and is doing his job well,” said Minasyan.

In relation to the economic policy implemented in Armenia, Minasyan said that the bail-out program really justified itself.

“Last year, under rather hard conditions, we didn’t cut back any social programs,” said Minasyan, adding that last year the average salary in Armenia rose by 12%.

Former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh Arman Melikyan, in turn, said that in these circumstances, devaluation and inflation should be taken into account.

“Our governing system is not an efficient one, it is corrupted,” said he.

While speaking about Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Melikyan said that the domestic tension in Armenia is becoming more acute also within the ranks of government officials.