YEREVAN. – It became known Friday that, after Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan’s joining the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) on Thursday, 7,000 more people have submitted petitions for also becoming RPA members, according to Zhamanak newspaper.

“[But] Zhamanak learned that these people have not at all resorted to this step due to [their] love and affection toward the PM.

“Starting in recent days, the employees of virtually all [compressed] gas [filling] stations, gasoline [filling] stations, [and] district hall[s] are forced to become RPA members.

“People are not even troubled to go to the RPA office. The respective applications are sent to the workplaces, and are filled out on the very spot,” wrote Zhamanak.