Prosperous Armenia MP critical of ruling party rep

Vahan Babayan, an MP of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), has responded to the statements Khosrov Harutyunyan, an MP of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), made in an interview with the Aravot newspaper.In his interview, Kh. Harutyunyan was critical of Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the PAP parliamentary group, who spoke of the group's non-participation in the parliamentary debate on Armenia's state budget."The PAP is not yet a full-fledged party, and I do not want any splits within it. The PAP is critical of all the governments Armenia has had since 2008. However, the Control Chamber's reports say that the ministries headed by PAP members were the most corrupt and full of abusive practices – ministries of urban development, health and social affairs," Harutyunyan said in his interview."Khosrov Harutyunyan is the world's only premier that was critical of his own program under Levon Ter-Petrosyan's presidency. He was Armenia's only premier to resign because he grossly violated human and political ethics," Babayan's statement says."Oskanian was critical and was understood. Oskanian was not [part of the coalition government], but you joined his criticism. Whom are you putting down as a fool? How can you speak of failed policy and responsibility when you held the key posts?" said Harutyunyan.Kh. Harutyunyan is not a person that has the right to publicly voice his opinion of the PAP, Babayan said. To substantiate, he referred to a letter Kh. Harutyunyan wrote years ago.According to Babayan, that letter was addressed to the then Prosecutor General of Armenia V. Nazaryan. That letter contained information against the Karabakh movement and its active members."That letter was written at when the Armenian people took to the streets and the best sons of the people went to defend the homeland," Babayan said.Summing up, he said that a couple of such episodes in an individual's life are enough to "sink into ob livion."Talking to Tert.am, Kh. Harutyunyan said that he has no idea of any letter. "I have just heard about it from you for the first time."   Read more... (341 words)

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