YEREVAN. – According to press reports, the discussions—between the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), and the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun and Prosperous Armenia (PAP) Parties—around the personnel and structural changes within the government will soon get underway, Zhamanak daily reported.

“Since [President] Serzh Sargsyan has a serious challenger in the person of [PM] Hovik Abrahamyan in the matter of the position of the [next] PM, even a small shrinking of the cake [of power] can solve big tactical problems for Sargsyan.

“The upcoming discussions, which will be de jure held within the RPA-ARF-PAP framework, will actually be a battle in the Serzh Sargsyan-Hovik Abrahamyan format.

“The discussions, as to who will be in the most favorable position ahead of [the parliamentary election in] 2017, will de facto be the manifestation of their match,” Zhamanak wrote.