YEREVAN. – Armenia’s President and ruling Republican Party (RPA) Chairman Serzh Sargsyan will have opponents in February’s presidential election, but there will not be a race among equals, even if the first or second presidents, or the Prosperous Armenia Party leader run for this office, RPA MP Mkrtich Minasyan said during a press conference on Friday. He added that, in the case of the current ambitions within the political spectrum, he does not believe in a consolidation of the political forces.      

The press conference’s other speaker, namely, Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) Chairman Aram Sargsyan, noted that there will not be much competition in the presidential elections. In his words, if a person seeks to become president, he should have announced this and presented his platform at least a year ago.

With respect to DPA’s involvement in the presidential race, Aram Sargsyan noted they are expecting consistent steps and added that the serving president can take those steps. In his view, Armenia’s key challenge is to put an end to emigration. “Corruption has two main directions: the [money] stolen from and the [money] not given to the [state] budget. [And] It is understandable that there is a PR campaign at present,” he said.              

The RPA MP, however, disagreed that Serzh Sargsyan’s current activities are PR campaigns. “I believe this is a thoroughly analyzed approach and everything will be done to resolve the existing problems, and the steps taken by the President are directed at that,” Mkrtich Minasyan stated.       

Photo by Sona Barseghyan/NEWS.am