"Authorities tried to cheat ANC"
The existing demographic problems and escalating migration can be devastating for Armenia, Aram Manukyan, Board Chairman of the All-Armenian National Movement (HHSh) told a news conference on Friday.
"If earlier the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) cited increasing migration as number one problem in Armenia, today they think that continuing non-combat deaths in the ranks are a much more serious threat to the country's statehood," said Manukyan.
"I do not want to use the tragedies to the benefit of the opposition in order to raise ANC's image, but we cannot turn a blind eye to them.
"About 200 non-combat deaths have been reported in the army in the past three years, which shakes off the reputation of our army. Military service is becoming more and more dangerous; parents no longer want their sons to serve in the army. This, in its turn, lowers the army's fighting capacity," he stressed.
Speaking about ANC's further steps, the HHSh representative said in its final resolution issued at the end of nonstop rallies at Liberty Square, the ANC called for Serzh Sargsyan's immediate resignation, which means the opposition finds the opposition-government dialogue to be exhausted.
"We started a dialogue with the authorities but they abused our confidence and tried to ‘play a trick' with us and went back from the dialogue requirements. They thought they had deceived us and gained time. But I do not feel sorry for the move we made. We will never have to do it again. There is no way back for us now," he said.
Asked why the ANC does not sue officials for disrupting transport communication between the capital and marzes during the rallies, the ANC senior representative said, "I do not believe that the issue can be settled in a legal way though civil consciousness forces us to apply to this measure, too. As an ANC member, I did not believe in the effectiveness of dialogue from the very beginning but we started talks, since we considered dialogue to be the best way to a peaceful transition to democracy," said Manukyan.
