What did the statement of L. Zurabyan, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) coordinator, made in an interview given to Radio Liberty that there were two big political forces – the ANC and the PAP – that could challenge Serzh Sargsyan imply? Does the statement of Mr. Zurabyan correspond to the current political situation in Armenia? www.aravot.am tried to
get answers to these questions during a conversation with Stepan Safaryan, the Heritage Party secretary general.
At first, Mr. Safaryan expressed his disagreement with the expressed idea and went into detail, “I disagree, since we see, particularly in the past few months, that the PAP is quite restrained on the political stage because of its status. It is a result of the fact that even the PAP hasn’t declared itself an opposition to the government. It is a problem. Under these circumstances, I don’t think that the cooperation between the PAP and the ANC, which is at the peak of its political activity, will seriously challenge the government.”
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L. Zurabyan’s statement is also interpreted in a way that the ANC and the PAP can jointly become a straightjacket for the government. In this regard Mr. Safaryan noted, “There is a different problem. If the circumstances, particularly restraining the PAP, I have mentioned were not there… the PAP has its own straightjackets, how can it become a straightjacket for someone else?”
In response to our question whether, at the end of the day, the PAP would endorse Serzh Sargsyan in the presidential election or it would have its own candidate, S. Safaryan said, “At the moment, I am inclined to think that the PAP may have its own candidate who will be Gagik Tsarukyan.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
