A Not-So-Subtle Proposal: President Resigns in September, Elections Held in October, Says Opposition

During the meeting today between Armenian National Congress (HAK) and ruling coalition delegates, the parties discussed the current agenda at length and concluded that they will completely exhaust discussion of the first issue and only then move on to discussing the issue put forth by the ruling coalition delegation, said head of the HAK delegation Levon Zurabyan, speaking to reporters following the meeting.

“We are going to discuss the first item on the agenda; that is, the holding of pre-term presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as events ensuring the legitimacy of these elections.

“We haven’t come here to exchange opinions on this or that issue related to the situation in the country. We’ve come here to discuss specific solutions. The people, the public are expecting specific results from this dialogue, and we are constructing the entire dialogue in such a way as to provide those results,” he said.

Zurabyan noted that the HAK delegation proposed meeting daily including Saturdays and Sundays; however, the ruling coalition delegation didn’t accept this proposal, suggesting twice weekly meetings instead, which the HAK delegation accepted.

“We accepted it, because finally it’s not us but they who need time — we have clearly set our time limits. We know what we have to do — both if negotiations are productive and if they fail,” he said.

Asked by a reporter whether pre-term elections in October is “technically possible,” Zurabyan said, “If [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan is submitting his resignation on Sept. 5, then pre-term elections will take place mid-October, as per the requirements of the RA Constitution.”