According to the information at NEWS.am‘s disposal, the Armenian delegation to the CE Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) intends to propose a motion of no confidence in the newly appointed co-rapporteur on Armenia Göran Lindblad. The reason is his statement on the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The Armenian delegation to PACE, as well as pro-government circles in Armenia, strongly opposed Lindblad’s appointment. They stated that, sponsored by the Turkish-Azerbaijani lobbyist structures, Lindblad is holding anti-Armenian positions. So could not be impartial in performing his mission on Armenia. As to Lindblad’s latest statement, it is the “trump card” the Armenian delegation will play to launch a campaign against the Swedish rapporteur to get his removed from the post. At a conference in Göteborg recently Göran Lindblad stated that the Left Block, which pushed the bill on the Armenian Genocide through the Swedish Parliament on March 11, planned to bring the issue up for discussions at the EU and UN. “If the Left Block wins the elections, the issue will be brought up in EU and UN. They [Left block parties] have already reached an agreement about this and will also include teaching about the genocide in Swedish schoolbooks. In order to stop their plans you should vote for the Moderates [Lindblad’s party] or any of the [governing] Alliance parties,” he said.

However, Lindblad refused the statement allegedly made by him. According to him, he actually stated the following, referring “to the principle that this kind of issues are not for parliaments to vote on… A vote for the alliance will guarantee that parliament is not acting in [this] type of historic issues again no matter if it [is] for or against a certain interest.”

The Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden asked Mr. Lindblad to comment on four questions, which have not yet been answered.

Parliamentary elections are to be held in Sweden in a few days. The right-wing party, which is not popular in the country, is running for Parliament as well. If the party fails to get into Parliament, Lindblad will mechanically leave the post of co-rapporteur on Armenia.