Armenian National Congress: Serzh Sargsyan's speech was a bad attempt to remove a political opponent

 Serzh Sargsyan's speech at the session of the Council of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) was a bad attempt to remove his political opponent, Armenian National Congress (ANC) says in a statement. 

The ANC says that the only target of Sargsyan's speech was the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) leader Gagik Tsarukyan, on whom Sargsyan was trying to exert pressure to make him leave the politics and do business only. "This is a serious violation of the Armenian Constitution, because any person can launch political activities and no one has the right to hinder these activities. So, Tsarukyan has the same rights to be engaged in politics as Sargsyan", says the statement.      

The statement also says that in his speech Sargsyan stressed the need to check the rumors about Tsarukyan's tax evasion and privity to crimes. "One can suppose that the incumbent regime has been aware of it but has been "sponsoring and cultivating" all that for many years and now the regime has decided that it cannot stand it any more. If the rumors have been circulating for many years, why hasn't the regime checked them so far? So, Sargsyan has been abusing his office and has become privy to Tsarukyan's "crimes", the statement says. The ANC also expresses indignation at the fact that earlier Serzh Sargsyan offered the prime minister's post to Tsarukyan, whom he accused of a number of crimes yesterday.  Sargsyan also offered him the president's post after the constitutional reforms are conducted. 

The ANC harshly condemns Sargsyan's speech and qualifies it as a bad attempt to draw the public attention away from his own sins. "People know who is responsible for the extremely hard situation in the country and who must be brought to account", the statement says.