YEREVAN. – In conversations with their close circles, the family members of Karen Karapetyan, former mayor of Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan and former General Director of ArmRosGazprom natural gas company, say Karapetyan will soon be appointed Prime Minister of Armenia; even the appointment date is noted: September 21—i.e. the anniversary of the independence of Armenia—, according to Zhoghovurd newspaper.

“According to the news, on that day, [President] Serzh Sargsyan will announce about forming a ‘Consensus Government’ and appointing Karen Karapetyan, Prime Minister.

“On the other hand, there are suspicions that these rumors are just bait, and their objective is to gauge the public sentiment in Armenia. The thing is that, under the current dire economic conditions in Armenia, it is very indispensable that the society stop living in constant negative expectations.

“[But] yesterday [i.e. Tuesday] all day, Zhoghovurd daily could not ascertain, from the ruling sources, the accuracy of this news,” wrote the newspaper.