YEREVAN. – The phase of negotiations with Armenia’s authorities is over because opposition Heritage Party Chairman, former FM Raffi Hovannisian—who was declared runner-up to the winner, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, as a result of the presidential election that was conducted on February 18, but who claims to be the real winner in the vote—does not recognize Sargsyan as a representatives of the authorities, as an official. Heritage’s National Assembly (NA) Faction Secretary Zaruhi Postanjyan announced this during Friday’s NA briefings with news reporters.     

“On [Tuesday,] April 9, on the day of his inauguration, Serzh Sargsyan conducted his funeral in the political sense. Serzh Sargsyan does not exist as an official,” she noted.  

To the query as to what the people have gained from the cooperation between Hovannisian and Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan, Postanjyan responded that the main achievement was that Gasparyan, who is one of Sargsyan’s “pillars,” did not mark Sargsyan’s “fake” inauguration. Instead, and together with 8,000 police officers, he marked the creation of a “New Armenia.”    

“We were tasked to prevent clashes between the police and the opposition, and we achieved our objective,” Zaruhi Postanjyan maintained.