Given the [COVID-19] pandemic [in the country], the state should give benefits to university students and help [them] in the matter of tuitions Gagik Tsarukyan—chairman of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), MP, and business tycoon—stated this during his meeting Friday with the youth of the PAP Student Council.

"In this situation, the parents do not work, whereas they [the university students] are told, 'If you don’t pay [your tuition], you will be out [of the university].' Let the state subsidize; the parent pays for the six months, and the state—the [other] six," he said.

The PAP leader reflected also on his June 5 statement that there will be a famine in Armenia within three months. "He [the authorities] says, 'Tsarukyan said there will be famine, now you see, there is no famine.' C'mon! What is famine? People, how is your current situation? I want the pro-government MPs to go to the provinces, to the villages, to come out say, 'Dear people, how are you living?'" Tsarukyan said.

The PAP leader stressed that he often presented solutions to the Armenian authorities to be able to get out of the current situation and overcome the economic crisis. "The [national] debt has increased. I say, 'Apply and bring 1 billion, give 2 thousand money to 500 thousand families. (…) the [national] debt has increased by 1 billion 400 million; let the people know [about it]," he added.

Gagik Tsarukyan again referred to the consumer loans taken by the people in Armenia and suggested that the state repay these loans.