Tsarukyan Steps Down as PAP Leader, Leaves Politics

Oskanian Quits PAP, Zohrabyan Elected New Party Leader

YEREVAN (A.W.)—On March 5, at an Extraordinary Party Congress held in Yerevan, Gagik Tsarukyan announced he would be stepping down as leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and leaving politics.

Gagik Tsarukyan
Gagik Tsarukyan

“I took a decision not to engage in active politics anymore and to resign as leader of Prosperous Armenia Party and head of the PAP parliamentary faction.  It was not an easy decision, which was made after much consideration. Yet, it was my personal decision,” said Tsarukyan.

After thanking fellow party members for their work over the years, Tsarukyan stressed he would no longer have any part in the party or its decision-making processes. “I ask you not to apply to me anymore about political problems. I will not interfere in your decisions. Henceforth, I have nothing to do with the Prosperous Armenia Party,” Tsarukyan said.

Tsarukyan, however, pledged to continue his philanthropic work in Armenia. “I will continue to build churches, schools, gyms… I will do that as an Armenian, as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

Tsarukyan’s withdrawal from politics came after a heated exchange of words with Armenian President Serge Sarkisian. The two met on Feb. 17, in a private meeting mediated by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D); afterwards, the PAP announced the cancellation of a planned rally against the administration.

 

Oskanian Leaves PAP

Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian also announced his plans to leave the party at the March 5 Congress. “I cease my membership in the PAP knowing full well my responsibility in its failure,” said Oskanian.

Vartan Oskanian
Vartan Oskanian

The PAP, he elaborated, had failed to bring to life the “wishes of the absolute majority of the Armenian people.”

Oskanian had been a PAP Member of Parliament since May 2012.

The PAP Congress elected Member of Parliament Naira Zohrabyan as the new leader of the party. In her first address as party leader, Zohrabyan declared that the PAP would now be an opposition party.

“We are entering a stage of serious discussions and analysis to work out a strategy peculiar and acceptable to an opposition force,” she said.

Naira Zohrabyan (Photo: Photolure)
Naira Zohrabyan (Photo: Photolure)

Zohrabyan stressed that she is open to teamwork, discussion, and debate within the party. She added that she would be ready to step down should her work produce no results or should she fail to meet the expectations of her colleagues.

“I will not make steps that will disgrace the party or disappoint the people,” Zohrabyan said.

The PAP is the second largest political force in the Armenian Parliament, with 36 seats. Although it was a part of the coalition governments between 2007 and 2012, the party now positions itself as an alternative/opposition political force.

5 Comments

  1. Good news. Oskanian, a stooge of the Western globalist powers, has stepped down. I wonder what next task he will receive from his transatlantic masters…

  2. Depending on future actions and positions taken by the Prosperous party, this might be considered a favorable development in Armenian politics, in the sense that now the PAP will be in opposition rather being part of the coalition and aligned with the President’s Republican party.
    An alignment among the opposition parties with PAP’s 37 (or 36) parliamentary seats, can have a counterbalancing effect on the President and his party, who run the country at their whim without taking into consideration any of the ideas/proposals of the opposition, which was unhealthy and unproductive.
    Tsarukyan was an oligarch himself. Hopefully Zohrabyan will be a more sensible, fair and wise leader who has no ties with the Oligarchs.
    Vart Adjemian

  3. I am sad to see Oskanian leave. I always felt proud to hear him represent Armenia on the world stage.

    • It’s a blessing to have Oskanian leave both foreign and domestic politics of the RoA. He is a Western stooge. He essentially ruined Armenia’s foreign service from within, weakened its diplomatic workforce, and failed miserably with his infamous “complementarity policy” at the time when he couldn’t but see the influence of the West waning, while Russia’s influence picking up momentum. Armenia’s joining the EEU brought Oskanian’s complementarity utopia to naught. The guy is a weathercock, not a diplomat or more so a politician.

  4. I wonder who threaten who and what kind of threats went around for this to happen. And we will never know the real story because there is no real journalism to dig deep into this an reveal the truth.

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