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ARZUMANYAN: FREE DEMOCRATS WOULD SUPPORT HOVANNISIAN IN 2013
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
News | 08.06.12 | 14:51
A member of the Free Democrats Party stated at a press conference
on Friday that at the upcoming presidential elections in February
2013 leader of the Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian will announce
his candidacy and they (Free Democrats) will support him.
The Free Democrats Party, founded last year by a group of former
members of the radical opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC),
participated in May 6 parliamentary elections by a joint proportional
list with Heritage, and now it has two representatives at the National
Assembly of the fifth convocation.
"Raffi Hovannisian has spoken about announcing his candidacy [for
president] several times, and I do not think that another member would
be nominated [instead of him]. But if such a thing happens anyway,
we will discuss whom to support then," said Alexander Arzumanyan,
opposition Free Democrats Party Vice-Chairman and former foreign
minister of Armenia, not excluding that nomination of a common
opposition candidate is a possibility.
Speaking about the newly-elected parliament, Arzumanyan said that it is
necessary to try to cooperate with everybody at the National Assembly.
"We cooperate with an idea and not with a person. However, of course
we will first of all collaborate with the ANC and the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation [ARF, Dashnaktsutyun], because they are also
opposition," Arzumanyan said.
Arzumanyan, speaking about the recent attacks by the Azeri side on
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the foreign policy in general,
said that the Azeri provocations are directed at the Republic of
Armenia and not the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Therefore, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia must present concrete demands
related to the border skirmishes.
"We have a professional army; however, the professional actions of the
armed forces of Armenia must be supported by equivalent diplomatic
approaches," Arzumanyan said, adding that "The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict cannot be resolved without the participation of
Nagorno-Karabakh representatives in the negotiation process."
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
News | 08.06.12 | 14:51
A member of the Free Democrats Party stated at a press conference
on Friday that at the upcoming presidential elections in February
2013 leader of the Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian will announce
his candidacy and they (Free Democrats) will support him.
The Free Democrats Party, founded last year by a group of former
members of the radical opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC),
participated in May 6 parliamentary elections by a joint proportional
list with Heritage, and now it has two representatives at the National
Assembly of the fifth convocation.
"Raffi Hovannisian has spoken about announcing his candidacy [for
president] several times, and I do not think that another member would
be nominated [instead of him]. But if such a thing happens anyway,
we will discuss whom to support then," said Alexander Arzumanyan,
opposition Free Democrats Party Vice-Chairman and former foreign
minister of Armenia, not excluding that nomination of a common
opposition candidate is a possibility.
Speaking about the newly-elected parliament, Arzumanyan said that it is
necessary to try to cooperate with everybody at the National Assembly.
"We cooperate with an idea and not with a person. However, of course
we will first of all collaborate with the ANC and the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation [ARF, Dashnaktsutyun], because they are also
opposition," Arzumanyan said.
Arzumanyan, speaking about the recent attacks by the Azeri side on
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the foreign policy in general,
said that the Azeri provocations are directed at the Republic of
Armenia and not the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Therefore, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia must present concrete demands
related to the border skirmishes.
"We have a professional army; however, the professional actions of the
armed forces of Armenia must be supported by equivalent diplomatic
approaches," Arzumanyan said, adding that "The Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict cannot be resolved without the participation of
Nagorno-Karabakh representatives in the negotiation process."