The resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan demonstrates that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) bears no responsibility for the current economic and political situation of the country. This is the opinion of ex-head of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Bagrat Asatryan and MP from the Prosperous Armenia Party Faction Vardan Bostanjyan.
Asatryan thinks that the problem is the current political system, which has brought together people with fat purses. The fact that Tigran Sargsyan became an RPA member only after becoming the prime minister is a shameful fact itself, Asatryan said.
He added that the country has recently experienced numerous developments that predicted the Government's resignation. For instance, after the long Armenia-EU negotiations on the Association Agreement, Armenia suddenly decided to join the Customs Union, which is tantamount to political upheaval. In 2008, Armenia's GDP in terms of US dollars made up $11.5 bln, in 2013 it dropped to $10.3 bln, the country experienced a 10% GDP decline over 5 years. The same dynamics is observed in the GDP per capita - it's no secret that Armenia's residents have become poor over the past few years. "Of course, one can always say that the reason was the crisis, but all countries have already overcome the crisis. Anyway, the current situation in the country is the result of the activity of such type and quality of the authorities", said Asatryan.
In the meantime, Vardan Bostanjyan thinks that the prime minister wanted to resign long ago, but he was not allowed to, and the public blamed Tigran Sargsyan for all the problems without realizing that the problem is the backward political system itself. "Now we should focus on system reforms aimed at enhancing the efficiency of public administration", he stressed. "The head of the Government should be capable of knowing B from a bull's foot and should not be coursed by the politicians", said Bostanjyan.
To recall, on April 3 Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan resigned from the post of Prime Minister during the Thursday meeting of the Supreme Body of the Republican Party of Armenia. President Serzh Sargsyan has accepted the resignation. In compliance with Article 55 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan is to appoint a new prime minister within 10 days. Afterwards, the new staff of the Government will be formed within 20 days. All the ministers automatically become acting ministers before the new premier is appointed.