MP from Prosperous Armenia Party Mikael Melkumyan believes that scandals around Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan are not a result of discrepancies within the government.
Melkumyan told ArmInfo that to draw final conclusions it is necessary to wait for the results of the inquiry into the 'offshore scandal' and the end of the "war" between ARFD and Tigran Sargsyan. Prosperous Armenia prefers good relations with all the political forces if it does not damage the state and the public interests. I don't think that the other parties pursue different goals or seek a split in the leadership," he said.
It is widely rumored in the political circles in Armenia that there is a real 'war' between Tigran Sargsyan and Hovik Abrahamyan ahead of the presidential election of 2018. The prime minister and the speaker unleashed that 'smear war' with the only goal to weaken each other ahead of the presidential election. As a result, there was leak of 'confidential' information against Sargsyan and Abrahamyan regarding the offshore scandal and misuse of the $2 million provided by the government for organization of Shanhai-2012 exhibition. To recall, Armenia's Ambassador to China is the brother of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. Earlier, Hrant Margaryan, ARFD Bureau representative, in an interview with RFE/RL Armenia service, said that Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan has openly declared war against ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party. In response, the Finance Ministry Inspectorate conducted inspections in the Ararat region and found out that Jonik Abrahamyan, the speaker's brother, received and misused 48,000 liters of diesel fuel the government had provided to the vulnerable rural residents at preferential prices.
Nevertheless, sources close to the Republican Party say that at the meeting of the Republican Party Executive Body, the president reprimanded the prime minister for 'sending' financial inspectors to the 'Abrahamyans family.' According to the given sources, the president was displeased with the open criticism the ruling party representatives lever at each other. Earlier, Serzh Sargsyan reprimanded the parliamentary majority, particularly, the parliament leadership, for their behavior with regard to the Control Chamber's report. To recall, after the Control Chamber's report was introduced in the parliament, Hovik Abrahamyan harshly criticized the government structures for misuse of the budget funds. Later, the above Inspectorate of the Finance Ministry made public the data on the diesel fuel received by Abrahamyan's family at a preferential price.