YEREVAN. – If the oppositional segment of Armenia’s body politic gets quite reasonable, it would start seriously preparing for the capital city Yerevan Council election that is slated for May 5. In this case, radical changes will be possible, Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) Chairman Aram Sargsyan said during a press conference on Monday.    

“The entire [February 18 presidential] election process can be divided into three parts: The authorities; a candidate who received votes, but who does not have sufficient opportunities; and the situation called, ‘we were saying [this all along],’”

As per Sargsyan, the halls of power were confident in their victory.

“[But, at the same time,] the people showed their discontent. Also, the people were disappointed that the vote-buying [of this year] was not as much, as compared with the previous elections,” the DPA leader maintained.  

Sargsyan stressed that opposition Heritage Party Chairman Raffi Hovannisian—who was declared runner-up to the winner, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan during the election, but who claims to be the real winner in the vote—primarily won in the cities where a significant number of the constituents actually supports the Prosperous Armenia Party. 

“Raffi Hovannisian is an experience and an inexperienced [political] figure at the same time. He has no relevant experience with such situations, but he is experienced in terms of a 20-year political activity.  

“We have repeatedly expressed our position, by presenting Serzh Sargsyan our terms, in return for support [to him in the election]. We appreciate Raffi Hovannisian very much, but we do not agree with his viewpoint. He intends to fundamentally change the vector of our country’s foreign policy, but, at this moment, we cannot jeopardize the safety of our country,” Aram Sargsyan concluded.