ArmInfo.10 years of Serzh Sargsyan's presidency were marked by a number of promises that were never implemented. The deputy of the National Assembly from the opposition bloc "Elk" Gevorg Gorgisyan stated in the conversation with ArmInfo correspondent.
"Sargsyan promised us economic growth, a new nuclear power plant, the Armenia-Iran railway, an associative agreement with the European Union, and even the share of all this was not fulfilled." If we compare the current situation in the country with the situation in 2008, we can say that no significant changes to the better. There was a lot of negative changes - the growth of external debt, inflation, emigration," Gorgisyan said.
The greatest failure of Sargsyan, the deputy considered the April war in 2016. "We had huge losses, first of all human ones, which we could avoid, it was during the presidency of Serzh Sargsyan that the Armenian side had territorial losses," Gorgisyan stressed.
Nevertheless, the oppositioner also saw one achievement of Serzh Sargsyan's presidency: the signing of the Agreement on a comprehensive and expanded partnership between Armenia and the EU.
Meanwhile, the head of the faction of the ruling Republican Party, Vahram Baghdasaryan, on the contrary, highly appreciated the ten-year presidency of his party leader. "I want to note that Serzh Sargsyan's presidency coincided with the international economic crisis and the president immediately launched a policy of fighting the crisis, and if we compare the development and achievements of Armenia during the years of Sargsyan's presidency with other post-Soviet countries, our advantages are obvious," the MP said.
Baghdasaryan stressed that there were many difficulties in the way of President Sargsyan - attempts to overthrow the authorities, rallies, the April war. "Against all these complexities, our main task was to ensure security in the country, and President Sargsyan succeeded," Baghdasaryan stressed. Baghdasaryan considered the signing of the Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership with the EU and Armenia's membership in the EAEU an example of political farsightedness of Sargsyan. "Also our achievement is the smooth transition of the country from the presidential to the parliamentary system of government, this is our most significant achievement," said Vahram Baghdasaryan.
The Republican did not share his opponents' assessments of the April war. In his opinion, as a result of the flexible policy of Serzh Sargsyan, the Armenian side was able to adequately resist the aggressive actions of the enemy. "We have an unpredictable neighbor who does not obey the international rules of the game, and we negotiate effectively in such difficult conditions. President Sargsyan's statements never differed from our steps, unlike the actions of Azerbaijani leader Aliyev," Baghdasaryan concluded.
In his turn, the deputy of the Tsarukyan bloc, the head of the commission for science, education, culture and youth affairs Vardan Bostanjyan stated in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent that there have been both objective and subjective difficulties over the past 10 years. "We could not overcome all the problems that currently exist in Armenia, such as corruption and monopolies, and there are no special economic achievements either, but in any case, Sargsyan managed to ensure a certain stability in the country," Bostanjyan stressed.
The MP noted that the security issue in Armenia is very acute against the backdrop of the unresolved Artsakh conflict. "Serzh Sargsyan managed to ensure the security of the country, he also managed to bring the Karabakh talks to a new level and defend the interests of Artsakh, despite the fact that the negotiations are attended by superpowers and each of which has a personal interest, and this complicates the resolution of the conflict," the MP stressed.
On April 9, presidential term of office of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan expired. However, already on April 17 he will be nominated for the post of prime minister of the country.