ArmInfo. National Self-Determination Union Party leader Paruyr Hayrikyan thinks that ex-prime minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan, who has left the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), might be a "Trojan horse" in the opposition field.
At a press conference in Yerevan on January 25, Hayrikyan said that Abrahamyan's intention might be sincere and he might have left the ruling party due to the lack of democracy in it. "Probably, a mass exodus from that party may start in the near future," the politician said.
Hayrikyan pointed out that to establish democracy in the country, the opposition forces should win the upcoming parliamentary elections. He stressed the need for wide consolidation of forces. In this context, he takes a positive view of the cooperation of the ex-defense minister Seyran Ohanyan's bloc with Gagik Tsarukyan's bloc. "Now it is time to put the criticism and ideological discrepancies aside and to appear a single front. Our goal is to establish democracy, which is of much significance," he stressed.
To note, ArmInfo's sources in the RPA report that Abrahamyan has recently taken a decision to leave the RPA following his meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. ArmInfo previously reported about that meeting, citing its own sources. Abrahamyan confirmed that information, however, he noted that the meeting did not cover political issues. Nevertheless, ArmInfo's sources in the RPA claim that it was Medvedev that advised Abrahamyan to leave the party after the ex-prime minister complained that his position in the RPA has seriously weakened. Medvedev advised Abrahamyan to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections as a member of the Gagik Tsarukyan bloc. On returning to Armenia, Abrahamyan met with some prominent RPA representatives and tried to persuade them to leave the RPA and join the Gagik Tsarukyan bloc. The details of the talks are not clear, however, Abrahamyan himself has submitted a notice to leave the party and then met with Tsarukyan to discuss his inclusion in the Gagik Tsarukyan bloc. The latter rejected Abrahamyan's request, saying that the electorate will not welcome his in-law's inclusion in the bloc. Tsarukyan reminded Abrahamyan of his speech during the RPA Council's session in Feb 2015, when the ex- prime minister promised "to knock some sense" into Tsarukyan's head. "How can I explain to people that the man threatening 'to knock some sense' into my head has been included in my bloc?" Tsarukyan replied.