“They don’t respond, because it is not the official opinion of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP). When all political forces are ready, consultations will be held with everyone, the Republican Party will make a final decision inside through its bodies and we will make public our official opinion and approaches,” Galust Sahakyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) executive body said, responding, at the request of www.aravot.am, to the statement of Vartan Oskanian, no. 2 on the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) list for proportional representation and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, that the number of participants in the election had increased by 160 thousand, which was doubtful, and that he would be against forming a coalition given the current allocation of forces. Our interlocutor perceives Oskanian’s statements as his own opinion and thinks that everyone has the right to have his own opinion.
Galust Sahakyan responds to all those who use the number of participants in the election for their benefit, to whom that number seems “exaggerated,” “Every political team admits painfully that it has a problem. Such things are very natural after an election. And the election was organized very well – the international observers’ analyses also testified to that. Moreover, it became clear on the very day of the election that at last, it had become possible to realize the idea of a more democratic country in Armenia. We assess it positively. Those who had problems or tried to make predictions from the perspective of their own PR should make such comments today. The feeling of sorrow and the sense of being inefficient incite people to make a bit more passionate statements.”
Nonetheless, Sahakyan notes that both during the election campaign and during the post-election developments, the RPA will not take a “striking” attitude toward other political forces. Answering a question of www.aravot.am what options of forming a coalition there were, in his opinion, since the RPA could rule solely, Galust Sahakyan said, “We have a political principle that forming coalitions is not an end in itself, but it is in the interest of the country. Naturally, if there are such commentaries or analyses that it is necessary that the forces, which have won the most votes, should form a single front to solve the problems facing the country or it is called differently, it is not essential. We have an experience of cooperation, coordinated work and I think there will be a necessity for agreements in the short run.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
