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READY TO TAKE CHARGE: PAP LEADER REVEALS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS
POLITICS | 10.10.14 | 10:11
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/57493/armenia_tsarukian_presidential_ambitions
Leader of the non-governing Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Gagik
Tsarukyan, who also heads the National Olympic Committee of Armenia,
made a surprise statement about his readiness to run for president at
a joint press conference with the visiting head of the International
Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, in Yerevan on Thursday.
Tsarukian's remarks came on the eve of a joint anti-government rally
of the PAP with two other opposition parties - the Armenian National
Congress and Heritage.
"I have four or five candidates on my mind for a presidential
election, who are decent persons and can put the country on the path
of development and settle issues," Tsarukyan said when asked by a
journalist to comment on the speculation that he was going to run
for president.
"If my political partners and the public nominate one of them, then
I will be ready to support and stand by him. And if my political
partners and the public decide that they need me and my candidacy
at that difficult moment, then I will be ready for that as well,"
he added.
The PAP leader did not specify whether he was talking about regular
or pre-term elections. Instead, he said that if elected president,
he would swiftly improve the situation in the country.
"Within several months pressing problems would be solved and the
country would be put on the right path and basis ... In all areas
people would feel that in their day-to-day life and work," Tsarukyan
declared.
The next presidential election in Armenia is not planned until 2018
when the second and last term of current president Serzh Sargsyan
expires. But before that Sargsyan's ruling Republican Party intends to
change the Constitution turning Armenia into a parliamentary republic
where the main decision-making will be done by the parliamentary
majority and powerful prime minister, while the president's role as
head of state will largely be symbolic.
The PAP and most other opposition forces are against the reform and
the matter is likely to feature prominently during today's rally
in Yerevan.
POLITICS | 10.10.14 | 10:11
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/57493/armenia_tsarukian_presidential_ambitions
Leader of the non-governing Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Gagik
Tsarukyan, who also heads the National Olympic Committee of Armenia,
made a surprise statement about his readiness to run for president at
a joint press conference with the visiting head of the International
Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, in Yerevan on Thursday.
Tsarukian's remarks came on the eve of a joint anti-government rally
of the PAP with two other opposition parties - the Armenian National
Congress and Heritage.
"I have four or five candidates on my mind for a presidential
election, who are decent persons and can put the country on the path
of development and settle issues," Tsarukyan said when asked by a
journalist to comment on the speculation that he was going to run
for president.
"If my political partners and the public nominate one of them, then
I will be ready to support and stand by him. And if my political
partners and the public decide that they need me and my candidacy
at that difficult moment, then I will be ready for that as well,"
he added.
The PAP leader did not specify whether he was talking about regular
or pre-term elections. Instead, he said that if elected president,
he would swiftly improve the situation in the country.
"Within several months pressing problems would be solved and the
country would be put on the right path and basis ... In all areas
people would feel that in their day-to-day life and work," Tsarukyan
declared.
The next presidential election in Armenia is not planned until 2018
when the second and last term of current president Serzh Sargsyan
expires. But before that Sargsyan's ruling Republican Party intends to
change the Constitution turning Armenia into a parliamentary republic
where the main decision-making will be done by the parliamentary
majority and powerful prime minister, while the president's role as
head of state will largely be symbolic.
The PAP and most other opposition forces are against the reform and
the matter is likely to feature prominently during today's rally
in Yerevan.