‘You’re Either With Us or Against Us,’ Says Opposition Candidate Aram Manukyan

Nominated in the no. 4 electoral district for the upcoming parliamentary election, Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh) party leader Aram Manukyan informed Epress.am that he has no competition in this constituency. He said, however, that he has only issue: he wants the people’s vote in order to remove the current ruling authorities from power. According to Manukyan, those are not with him support the ruling authorities.

Recall, also nominated in the same district are Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan, former editor of the daily 168 Zham (“168 Hours”) Satik Seyranyan, Armen Yepjemyan and Artak Sargsyan from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, and Aleksan Minasyan (no party affiliation).

In the opposition candidate’s opinion, the issue is not who has what competition or platform, it’s something else — “either you’re with [Armenian President] Serzh [Sargsyan] or you’re against him”.

“I evaluate [competitors] only this way: how they will be decided on this matter. Those who say that their aim is a change of government, I will gladly collaborate with them, [but] those who won’t do that will be in another arena, [among] those who defend Serzh Sargsyan,” he said.

Asked by Epress.am whether the nomination of two opposition candidates (he and Zaruhi Postanjyan) in the same constituency won’t perhaps work in favor of the ruling authorities, Manukyan said being an opposition is determined by being in support of or against the authorities.

Recall, Zaruhi Petrosyan, in an earlier conversation with Epress.am, also said she didn’t believe she had any competition in this district, even between opposition candidates, saying, “Our voters are completely different.”