After political consultations that have already ended, according to ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margaryan, “in general, there is a good atmosphere to unite around this program” with regard to the join participation of the opposition in the presidential election, although “there is some nervousness expressed by some individuals.” Mr. Margaryan talked about this during a meeting with representatives of Aravot, Radio Liberty and www.yerkir.am.
He thinks that the issue of agreeing on the joint candidate in the second round is a complex one. “However, I believe that who adopts these seven agenda points honestly and optimistically will also be able to show the right approach to the issue of a joint candidate. Who adopts perfunctorily or adopts with some wrong expectation will probably do something different,” he said, expressing an idea that the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) would nonetheless be left out of the consultations, although there was an agreement to continue meetings and discussions. In response to a question of www.aravot.am whether the ARF had received complaints from opposition forces with regard to the meeting with the president, since during the public discussion organized last week, those forces had basically agreed to turning the proposals of the ARF into a foundation for unity. “No discontent was expressed by serious, responsible persons,” H. Margaryan said, adding that the ARF members had stated in their speeches on
that day that they had offered all forces, including the RPA, to discuss their agenda, “So we didn’t do anything secretly. We did it openly. We informed about the meeting, since it was so ordinary, natural for us. We met also with the Rule of Law Party (RLP), which is in the coalition. We met with the ANC too. Whom else should we have met with to make it understandable that we don’t attach importance to the act of meeting, we try to achieve general like-mindedness on the main problems facing the country?” www.aravot.am also inquired how probable it was that the ARF would endorse Serzh Sargsyan, if, except for the two issues – switching to a parliamentary system of government and denouncing the Armenia-Turkey protocols – the President of the Republic of Armenia flatly rejected, the RPA represented by the president agreed to the other five proposals. “If they adopt them with conviction, they may endorse our candidate. We don’t look for a candidate to endorse. We have our candidate, and we don’t talk about him, because we think that the important thing is the agenda points,” Mr. Margaryan said, adding that the important thing was that political forces understood the problem correctly; in that case, it would be easier to come to an agreement on the person who would implement those seven points.
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As for who the ARF candidate is, Margaryan didn’t wish to make it public, “If I make it public, I will break a promise.”
Hrant Margaryan didn’t rule out that the ARF might even make a decision not to participate in the election. He said that the Supreme Council would decide at its meeting the date of which hasn’t been made public yet; it will have taken place “by December 31.”
By the way, as for which issues on their agenda the president had agreed with, Hrant Margaryan said that they hadn’t managed to discuss the agenda completely, and that was the reason why they had agreed to continue meetings.
During the meeting that lasted for more than an hour, they mostly talked about “unacceptable things.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
