Epress.am News from Armenia
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will be nominating local tycoon, Football Federation of Armenia president, and MP Ruben Hayrapetyan in the no. 1 electoral district, according to a decision made at the HHK executive body meeting on Wednesday.
At a press conference on Mar. 15, Hayrapetyan had said he would not be running in the May 6 parliamentary election, though two weeks earlier he had said that ultimately his party would decide if he would contest a parliamentary seat in this election or not. Yet, even earlier, the notorious businessman had said he doesn’t see himself in the National Assembly, adding it’s “not his place.”
At what was assumed to be the final decision on the matter, on Mar. 15, the reluctant lawmaker explained he would no longer engage in parliamentary work because he is busy with football-related activity, he is the vice-president of the UEFA and FIFA committees and is often out of the country.
To a reporter’s observation at that press conference that the change of plans could’ve been a PR move, Hayrapetyan responded in the negative, saying that at one time the party actually had decided that he should be nominated but later the party and its leader, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan realized the extent of his busyness and decided otherwise.
The Football Federation of Armenia president mentioned that the country’s president has made it a point to get the Armenian national men’s football team to the World Cup finals, and for this reason Hayrapetyan has to focus on football (and not politics).
However, only two days earlier, local daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”) reported that Hayrapetyan would be nominated after all.