Armen Ashotyan, the member of RPA council, parliamentarian of RPA faction, said.
According to “Regnum”, Armen Ashotyan has added to his affirmation that Andranik Margaryan’s political successor is only RPA. “The whole panic, the struggle round political and inter party processes, is the result of cynic imagination of those people who are engaged in it.” We tried to find out who is the addressee of these references, who has claimed for the Prime Minister’s political heritage. Armen Ashotyan answered that his declaration “isn’t made against any opinion of the politicians. I was replying to the interpretations of media about political results, vote distribution and other issues, which have no connection with Andranik Margaryan’s death. RPA still grieves for Andranik Margaryan’s loss, and our sorrow won’t be healed soon. It’s obvious that political consequences will be. The forces will be concentrated in this case, and the party will be unified and try to do what would please Andranik Margaryan.” Different Internet sites make polling in Yerevan about the influence of Andranik Margaryan’s death on internal political situation. There are different answers: the RPA positions will be weakened or strengthened, the government will face to crisis, the economic or political atmosphere will be strained, political forces will be redistributed and nothing will be changed. In answer to our question which version Mr. Ashotyan would choose, he said: “The version of answers confuse me. Maybe the common computer user can make his selection among the versions. But I, who has worked and was in good relations with him, can’t correspond my predictions with the above-mentioned versions. Something will be changed as an important factor not only for the party but also for the whole state has left the life. The RPA will unify all its organizational and moral power to relieve its loss.”
There are some predictions that the influence of old Republicans will be weakened and the RPA recruits will become stronger. “This is the continuation of a serial which started after hour latest session, – Armen Ashotyan noted. – There is no separation between old and new Republicans, Prime minister’s and Serge Sargsyan’s adherents. Consequently, if there is no separatism, nobody can be strong or weak.”
Leader of “New Times” Party Aram Karapetyan has told that the political arena has become black and white after Andranik Margaryan’s death: “The most proper candidate for the prime minister’s post for the authorities is Serge Sargsyan. I think it will be an ideal situation for us: we’ll have a target for the first time. We didn’t have it that time because two of them were ruling, the third was giving answers. Now two are responsible in the governing system, and an active, aggressive and strong political course is going to be carried out.” RPA council member said on this occasion: “The political system hasn’t been changed since 2000. Almost the same authority exists for about 7 years, and it didn’t impede the opposition to make it a target of aggressive propaganda in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Certainly, the Prime Minister’s authority was so great that even the oppositionist leaders admitted him. And we’ll feel the lack of balance in our political system. But it is difficult to predict whether the opposition’s pre-electoral campaign will be more intensive, as the Prime Minister wasn’t only neutralizing the negative impulses coming from the opposition to the authority, but he was also neutralizing the impulses coming from the opposite side.”