No obstacle to Prosperous Armenia, ANC cooperation – opposition leader

Chairman of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan delivered a speech at the ANC rally in Yerevan, Armenia, Tuesday.He particularly domestic policy issues, the ANC's cooperation with the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), and the opposition's role in Armenia's newly formed parliament.After Armenia's new parliament was formed and discussed the government program a completely new situation has developed in the country. Not only political circles, but also media outlets admit the fact, Ter-Petrosyan said.”Four parliamentary factions strongly resisted the program by the government headed by Mr. Tigran Sargsyan: the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) and Heritage were severely critical of not only the program, but also the team," the ANC leader said, quoting a comment by the Zhoghovurd newspaper.He also made a number of similar quotations.Hardly anyone wil l sincerely think that this new situation has developed by itself, but not due to well-thought-out steps by opposition forces – specifically due to the cooperation between the ANC, PAP, ARF-D and, in part, Heritage party.Although the PAP, both during the elections and discussion of the government program efficiently cooperated with the other opposition forces, which, however, does not prevent some from playing down the importance of the new political reality in Armenia, which is a universally admitted fact.To achieve their aim, they resort to the following methods: first, intimidating the people with Robert Kocharyan's return; second, convincing society that the PAP is not real opposition because it did not made a relevant statement in Armenia's parliament.The following should be noted: since last October the so-called independent media outlets and political forces, as well as "elements" that fell away from the ANC, have been doing their utmost to prevent the PAP f rom turning an opposition force and establishing cooperation with the ANC. The aim is to force the PAP into siding with President Serzh Sargsyan.With this end in view, Armenia's authorities will apply various administrative mechanisms. Any political forces laying claims to becoming a serious political factor must be able to resist the pressure, Ter-Petrosyan said.   Read more... (347 words)

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