YEREVAN. – The year 2011 began with the President’s active intervention into the socioeconomic life, and this was to bring positive changes, but, sadly, there was no positive change this time as well, opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun MP Artsvik Minasyan stated during a press conference on Tuesday. 

“Emigration is reaching an annual of ninety thousand,” Minasyan said, and added: “The year recorded nothing positive in terms of foreign developments. Just the opposite, Armenia is weakening its positions.”

“[And] In domestic politics, in the first place it seemed there would be positive changes, but no. The society is unsure whether the next elections will be transparent,” Artsvik Minasyan maintained.   

In his turn, the ruling coalition’s Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Hovhannes Sahakyan objected, and noted: “Of course there are problems, but they are not in our country alone; the whole world is in crisis. Confidence must be instilled into the society. Being in power, RPA declares that the [upcoming] parliamentary elections will be free, fair, and transparent. We possess that will.”