Armenian President’s Office Comments on Opposition Proposal to Negotiate on Pre-Term Elections

It’s not hard to notice that dialogue between the authorities and the Armenian National Congress (HAK) began a long time ago, it is moving along quite effectively and has already led to a number of positive changes. This news was conveyed today by Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic of Armenia Karen Karapetyan (not to be confused with Yerevan mayor Karen Karapetyan) in response to a question by Novosti-Armenia on whether the authorities accept HAK’s proposal for dialogue and if they’re putting together a corresponding team.

According to Karapetyan, the fact that the dialogue has started is simply so obvious that speaking about it is, at the very least, odd.

“As for the suggestion of negotiating on pre-term elections and forming a delegation, well, in this case, both the proposed format and the question posed, to a great extent, are simply an end in themselves and — it wouldn’t be difficult to guess — unacceptable. The expression ‘negotiations of delegations’ is so exaggerated and colorful that it seems we’re talking about intergovernmental negotiations and not an authorities-opposition collaboration, mechanisms for the implementation of which exist in our country and added to which in recent years are also the new formats put forth by the Armenian president. I believe that only a work style aimed at adjusting approaches and targeted discussions on numerous problems in our country will lead to positive and acceptable results for our people.

“We continue our efforts in cooperating with all political entities for Armenia’s progressive development, placing importance on the need to jointly resist possible foreign threats, the continuation of systemic changes in the country, declaring a new impetus for these and guaranteeing tangible results. From this view, the coalition parties are willing to work effectively with all political entities, including the Armenian National Congress, in executive state bodies, and to push through all of HAK’s realistic and ‘for’ proposals at the National Assembly,” said Karapetyan.