The resignation of the former Chief of Staff of RA President Artashes Tumanyan was a great surprise for many people. However, others expected to see Armen Gevorgyan, former first assistant of the President, be appointed to the same position.
According to our source, President Kocharyan didn’t quite like the fact that Tumanyan had established a party and he offered Tumanyan to resign voluntarily. And it is not a secret that the relationships between Gevorgyan and Tumanyan were not quite good. Under these circumstances it will be very hard for Tumanyan to have the party on his own without any administrative resources. But Tumanyan is OK with this because it is possible that he would like to create an image of someone who has been banished from the government and even persecuted on behalf of his party. However, it is almost impossible that his party would become an opposition. In this regard Gagik Melkumyan, Secretary of the Armenian Republican Party Faction, said, “I think Tumanyan wants to be actively involved in politics, that’s why he resigned.” However, according to him, Tumanyan’s party will not have a very serious influence on the coming political processes. “The newly established party cannot have a serious influence on politics”, he said.