The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) hasn’t discussed yet whether it will attend in Serzh Sargsyan’s swearing-in or not, since they have other urgent business.
“The Prosperous Armenia Party is a party, a party with all characteristics and will not miss any partisan election, because there is a team, there is an axis, a mass of people rallied around the axis, strength, a goal, and a program. And presidential elections, as we have stated many times, are not partisan elections, are elections of an individual. We should let individuals make their decisions and not confuse it with partisan elections,” Tigran Urikhanyan, the press secretary of the PAP, said during a conversation with Aravot yesterday, opposing the observation that it, nonetheless, was not understandable why the PAP, which had ignored the presidential election, had started such an active struggle in the Yerevan City Council election. Tigran Urikhanyan assures once again that the PAP will not deviate from the goal it clarified a very long time ago, “Chaaaange; that change will start with Yerevan, as our slogan hints.” Urikhanyan also, according to his assessment, “quite openly hinted” that it is “the first step of reaching the prospective goal of the PAP.”
We asked the PAP press secretary to clarify one or two, in the PAP’s opinion, topical issues, which should be urgently changed in both political and economic areas. “The normalization of the political stage requires getting rid of a political monopoly. Therefore, as we stated a long time ago, changes in the electoral procedure,” our interlocutor said. As for economic reforms, “One should steal less, or rather one should not steal at all. That is the reason why my colleagues and I, in particular, have raised various sophisticated and correct issues recently. So a change in governance, including municipal governance in Yerevan should be started with that, a saving, economy or rather not committing crimes against the people. We asked the competent officials – the mayor, the head of the Cabinet, members of the Cabinet, specific officials of specific areas – questions, using the language of numbers, and in response, we received insults. However, we will continue to ask our questions. Everything must be changed in the capital – the pointless waste of money, broken roads, the environmental condition, the field of services, and the condition of transportation.” By the way, the PAP members of the Yerevan City Council voted in favor of the 2012 budget implementation of the capital act. Tigran Urikhanyan responded as follows: “That is why the composition of the council will be changed.”
The ruling party and the oppositionists participating in the election state that they aspire to first position, the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) also clarifies that the oppositionists struggle to come second, does the PAP imagine itself in the scenario drawn up by the RPA? In response to this question, Tigran Urikhanyan said: “Well, let the RPA also struggle to come second.” Tigran Urkhanyan doesn’t agree that not uniting for this election again, the opposition hands the ruling RPA the government of Yerevan on a plate, since the RPA has leverage in its hands. “I am not entitled to talk on behalf of the opposition, but we broadly cooperate with opposition political forces and have interests regarding this election, in particular – supervision over the electoral process, carrying out a fair and effective election, and discussion of further joint action after the election. Those platforms are more than enough so that nothing is handed to the government on a plate,” the PAP spokesperson said. In response to an observation that basically, the PAP cherished hope that the opposition forces would be able to form the majority in the Yerevan City Council, he said: “I hope that the PAP will form the majority. However, it doesn’t mean that in any case and in any format, we cannot cooperate with other political subjects.”
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We also inquired whether the PAP had discussed the issue of attending Serzh Sargsyan’s swearing-in ceremony on April 9. “There has been no discussion,” the answer was. In response to our question what reason there could be for their not attending that event, Urikhanyan expressed his own idea: “I don’t see any problem. Frankly speaking, I haven’t put aside all my business and think about that; when that day approaches I will then think about that.”
NELLY GRIGORYAN
