“There are no business owners on our list. We never even held such negotiations,” the head of the Bright Armenia faction, Edmon Marukyan, told reporters.
When asked if the authorities’ arguments that Khachatur Sukiasyan and Gurgen Arsenyan are not business owners are sufficient, Marukyan responded, “One of the promises of the revolution was that business and politics would be separate, and no benefits would enter parliament. In that sense, if business owners are once again elected to parliament, that will be another case of a revolutionary promise being broken. The authorities are breaking their promise again. There will be a setback to some of the achievements. There is already talk that there will be election bribes and they will give money. People are already talking.” Marukyan did not state which force will do so, but he said that the authorities and the forces that have unlimited resources may distribute money.
When asked about the risks he sees if this government is reelected with this list and these business owners enter parliament, Marukyan answered, “The risk is that the revolution is regressing. The risk is that other forces will realize that this principle no longer works, and they will also start bringing in business owners. And the parliament, if not this time, next time will be a parliament full of business owners, which is what was criticized and rejected. That system is being revived as a result of erosion.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
