DASHNAKS PICK UP MINISTER OF EDUCATION SLOT

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000691

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AM
SUBJECT: DASHNAKS PICK UP MINISTER OF EDUCATION SLOT

REF: YEREVAN 662

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DASHNAKS ADD ONE MINISTER
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1. (SBU) Nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF, Dashnaktsutyun) party received a new cabinet
portfolio after Speaker of the National Assembly Artur
Baghdasaryan pulled his Orinats Yerkir (OY) party and
its cabinet members from the ruling coalition on May 12
(reftel). On May 17, President Kocharyan signed a
decree dismissing Sergo Yeritsyan and appointing Levon
Mkrtchyan (MP, head of the Dashnak faction in the
National Assembly) as Minister of Education and
Science. Mkrtchyan, who has led the Ministry twice
before, was the ARF's obvious first choice for this
position. The ARF, with only 11 out of 131 seats in
the Parliament, controls three other cabinet posts:
Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Agriculture, as
well as the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.


2. (SBU) Levon Mkrtchyan's appointment was no surprise,
neither was the fact that ARF got the post. The
education sphere is one of the most corrupt ones in
Armenia, and the Dashnaks had publicly expressed their
dissatisfaction with the OY number two and former
minister Sergo Yeritsyan numerous times. An ARF
representative told us the day before Mkrtchyan's
appointment that they would not tolerate Yeritsyan as
Minister of Education, even after he had left Orinats
Yerkir in a bid to retain his ministerial portfolio.

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BIO NOTES: LEVON MKRTCHYAN
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3. (SBU) Levon Mkrtchyan (41),personable and extremely
bright, is a prominent, up-and-coming leader within the
ARF. In the mid-90s he led the ARF, which was
essentially banned at that time under former president
Levon Ter-Petrosyan's administration. From 1996 to
1998 he was a member of the Central Committee of Hay
Dat (the Armenian Cause). After President Kocharyan
come to power in 1998, Mkrtchyan held various
governmental posts: Minister of Education and Science
(1998-1999),Adviser to the Prime Minister (1999-2000),
Deputy Foreign Minister (2000-2001),Minister of
Education and Science (2001-2003). In May 2003 he was
elected into the Parliament from the proportional list
of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun and led the Party faction.
Mkrtchyan headed the National Assembly's multi-party
Armenia-U.S. Friendship Group until his appointment as
Minister of Education and speaks good English.
Mkrtchyan is a graduate of Yerevan State University and
holds a PhD in History. He is married with one child.
EVANS