Republican Party of Armenia has Always had Open Door Policy: Sharmazanov

The authorities’ actions have never been and are not determined by conditions proposed by this or that (political) force, said ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) press spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.

“It’s due to neither our European colleagues nor pressure from opposition forces that the authorities institute reforms. [Armenian President] Serzh Sarsyan had stated that reforms were necessary for the country. Reforms are conditioned by our political agenda. Become familiar with our program, read Serzh Sargsyan’s last three speeches and you’ll be convinced that we’re moving on a path of reforms. We find that there shouldn’t be people of one’s own and people not of one’s own in the Republic of Armenia. Now we’ve reached a stage where there aren’t people of one’s own,” he said.

In his words, today the opposition is taking the right road to struggle.

“In our country, there are authorities and there is opposition. That’s very normal,” he said. On the matter of Armenian National Congress (HAK) leader Levon Ter-Petrossian’s speech yesterday, Sharmazanov considered it mainly “correct” — with some exceptions.

According to Sharmazanov, the authorities have always been open to dialogue.

“When have we been closed? I’ve always met with [Ter-Petrossian’s press spokesperson Armen] Musinyan and Vladimir Karapetyan [responsible for HAK’s public relations]. We’ve had meetings in different environments. What, aren’t [press] conferences and other types of debates not a form of dialogue? There has been unofficial dialogue,” concluded the HHK spokesperson.