Epress.am News from Armenia
New Times party leader Aram Karapetyan can’t understand why developments in the ruling coalition are of such great interest to his opposition colleagues.
“In my personal opinion, all the parties in the coalition, at the end of the day, served and serve the same system; they don’t want any changes to the system, including the Prosperous Armenia party,” he said.
Another matter is that second and third parties, who, according to Karapetyan, have declared themselves president, Robert Kocharian or Serzh Sargsyan, try to more so “come out on top because the 2012–13 elections will be crucial for those people and their capacities.”
“Robert Kocharian’s activities and his series of meetings in Moscow show that he has some serious economic problems [i.e. businesses], including those abroad,” said Karapetyan.
The party leader also informed reporters about agreements by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to visit Moscow and meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “Serzh Sargsyan wants to understand what policies, in the end, Russia will be guided by in the Caucasus.”
Karapetyan noted how whenever the situation is complicated, Armenian authorities try to get assistance from Moscow.
“The Robert Kocharian–Serzh Sargsyan flare-up is purely an economic issue. Robert Kocharian must ultimately find its place,” he said.
Kocharian’s nomination as a presidential candidate Aram Karapetyan also links with Russia: “If Putin’s nominated, Kocharian also will be nominated.”
According to the New Times party leader, the following problem exists inside the coalition: to deprive people the main aspects of the struggle and economic leverage or to endow people with economic leverage.
Furthermore, according to Karapetyan, there’s no clash of views in the coalition on changing Armenia’s economic and political system, so these “games” shouldn’t interest the opposition.
Speaking about the opposition’s “ceiling,” Karapetyan noted that some people have a ceiling they won’t go past, however, he didn’t think Armenian National Congress (HAK) leader Levon Ter-Petrossian was one of those people.
“I think, Levon Ter-Petrossian doesn’t have a political ceiling,” he said, adding it’s unlikely that the HAK leader will have one in the future.