A consultation, in which representatives of the RPA, the Heritage Party, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) participated and the agenda of which included 3 issues – holding a snap parliamentary election within one year, switching to 100% proportional representation within two years, and increasing the supervisory leverage of the opposition – took place in the office of Hovik Abrahamyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly. During today’s meeting, the parties didn’t reach a final agreement, but the consultations will continue. Talking about the discussions in the parliamentary format during a conversation with Aravot, Hovhannes Sahakyan, the secretary of the Republican Party parliamentary group, noted: “We think that these post-election processes should progress through a dialogue, negotiations and peacefully, not through artificially stirring up tension or taking illegal steps. That is the reason why Hovik Abrahamyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly, initiated these political discussions, as a result of which the results of the election will not be challenged. During the discussions, it is worth discussing what reforms should be made, so that the processes progressed in that course.” In response to Aravot’s question whether not reaching an agreement during the discussions would make the situation tenser, Hovhannes Sahakyan said: “I think post-election processes progress normally; it is just that the demands are illogical, because the whole world, all international organization who followed the election, and the Central Election Commission (CEC) give one assessment, and defeated candidate Raffi Hovhannisyan and his teammates think that they have won with the votes they have gotten, which is illogical. I think there are no tensions; they hold meetings with the people, and it is fine as long as it is in accordance with the law.” We asked Mr. Sahakyan whether the RPA thinks that the discussions, negotiations could continue in the parliamentary format. “Certainly. We think the classic way of discussing, the highest political platform is the very parliament, where those negotiations, discussions should take place,” the Republican Party parliamentary group secretary replied.
Emma GABRIELYAN
