“The ruling party is behind the steps aimed at getting political forces out of the way, in my opinion,” Styopa Safaryan, the secretary general of the Heritage Party, said, not agreeing
with the claims of Hovhannes Sahakyan, a Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP, that the RPA had created all necessary conditions for the opposition forces to unite, and the RPA shouldn’t be blamed in that regard. “The best conditions for the opposition are created, when the opposition and the government have equal abilities, when public and state resources are available for everyone,” Mr. Safaryan added.
He also didn’t agree that the Prosperous Armenia Party’s (PAP) presenting itself as an alternative force had been just a game, and had aimed at disintegrating the opposition camp, “I don’t want to rule out this commentary, but that seems to be the result. On the other hand, it is visible that the PAP’s condition under the pressure of the three presidents was not an easy one; the orientation toward one of them could be fatal and have serious consequences for the PAP itself. The PAP tried to preserve itself. We think that step was a result of all this, but at the same time, I don’t think that the PAP was, roughly speaking, sent to the opposition camp to destroy it.”
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Mr. Safaryan doesn’t think that the PAP’s position not to endorse anyone in the presidential election means supporting the incumbent president, “Why not, The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) needs the PAP’s support, because Serzh Sargsyan hardly crossed the threshold in 2008, thanks to the PAP, he is in a weaker position now than in 2007, he doesn’t have the PAP’s support and has accusations against him with regard to March 1 and so on. Armenia is approaching the presidential election with a weak opposition and a weak government. In that sense, I don’t agree that the decision of the PAP not to endorse anyone strengthened the government.”
He also added that the PAP had called the legitimacy of the election into serious question, showing indirectly that the pressure against them was the reason for not being nominated, rather than just the wish not to participate.
Arpine SIMONYAN
