ArmInfo.On January 16, Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan met with deputies in the National Assembly. As the press service of the Artsakh President reports, the Head of the State spoke about the consequences of the blockade lasting more than a month, as well as steps taken to face internal and external challenges.
President Harutyunyan noted that in this context maintaining internal unity is of utmost importance highlighting in that respect the consolidated work carried out by the parliamentary forces these days.
Touching upon the heated discussions in the press and social networks on the internal political life of Artsakh in recent days, President Harutyunyan stated that he will refrain from commenting on the existing speculations, he can only bring to a clear view that there is no internal political crisis in Artsakh and such a thing cannot be allowed, since there is a clear awareness that our main agenda is to overcome the current urgent problems and to get Artsakh out of this situation. In that context, he emphasized that only after overcoming the crisis caused by the blockade, it will be possible to address the issues relating to the systematic solution of internal political problems.
During the meeting, President Harutyunyan also responded to the questions of the MPs.
It should be noted that on January 14, sources close to the team of the acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of Artsakh began to circulate information about the possible holding of early parliamentary and presidential elections in Artsakh, as well as about the intention to remove Ruben Vardanyan from the post of State Minister of Artsakh. A large-scale campaign to discredit Vardanyan began after he sharply criticized the current authorities of Armenia, being under siege. Information circulated in the media that Harutyunyan was instructed from Yerevan to remove the "unwanted" Vardanyan. The latter issued a statement in which he stressed that he did not intend to resign. . In addition, since yesterday evening, Pashinyan's media have been writing that, by agreement with Arayik Harutyunyan, after negotiations, Ruben Vardanyan will remain in the post of State Minister of Artsakh, provided that he no longer makes political statements. At the same time, pro-government media and bloggers continue to discredit Vardanyan.