YEREVAN. – According to some assessments, Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Chairman Gagik Tsarukyan is depressed. He did not meet with his fellow party members, following his announcement on not running in the upcoming presidential elections, and he did not tell them what they should do in the future, Hraparak daily reports.   

“Nonetheless, some [PAP] party members smoothly integrated into supporting [serving President] Serzh Sargsyan’s candidacy. As for the party’s radical portion, the latter is not losing hope that something can still be salvaged, even after the presidential elections [to be held on February 18].  

A representative of the PAP’s radical wing said they do not rule out [the possibility] that Gagik Tsarukyan would leave politics and the party would pass ‘to the man they know:’ [second President] Robert Kocharyan.

But the PAP vehemently denies these rumors, and some rule it out because ‘Serzh Sargsyan would not agree,’” Hraparak writes.