Why won’t the HHK hold snap elections?
Vice-President of the Republican Party of Armenia Razmik Zohrabyan says the ANC's rally will be constructive. According to him, the extra-parliamentary opposition has no reason to annul the dialogue that has already been declared.
"Before the amnesty, the ANC said it would hold a sitting strike until the prisoners weren't released. Those prisoners have been released. What will be the purpose of their sitting strike?" Zohrabyan told "A1+".
Zohrabyan doesn't rule out that there will be forces that will want to see the opposite.
"I wouldn't like to mention any names, but there are forces that truly don't want a dialogue because this process is leading to normal elections based on the Constitution."
Razmik Zohrabyan stressed that Serzh Sargsyan's amnesty was not by chance and that it was not only the next step of the authorities' reforms, but an attempt to ease the inter-political tension and confront foreign threats.
"There are real threats from Azerbaijan every day. Even Levon Ter-Petrosyan mentioned that there was a threat and that we should confront that threat together," said Zohrabyan.
Touching upon the ANC's claims that the only topic for dialogue with the authorities are snap presidential elections, Razmik Zohrabyan noted that if the authorities fulfill the demand for snap elections, they will call into question the elections held in 2007 and 2008. "We are not calling that into question. The elections were legitimate and European organizations affirmed that, mentioning that there were certain flaws."
Mr. Zohrabyan said he wouldn't like to touch upon the ANC's statements according to which the authorities fulfilled their three demands and said the important thing was the result.
"Compared to 2008, we are in the stage of constructivism and I believe this will continue until the next elections in 2012 and after that," said Zohrabyan.
