I Hope This Government Will Also Change Peacefully: Gevorg Petrosyan

I cannot say to what extent this government owes its power to the third President of Armenia, Serge Sargsyan, or how much obligations it has towards him. This was stated by Gevorg Petrosyan, a member of the Prosperous Armenia Party, during a discussion with reporters on December 5, referring to the charges brought against Sargsyan.

“Ultimately, one thing is true: the power was transferred peacefully, which is why it is called a velvet revolution. However, I do not call that revolution velvet because it implies that we should have a respectful and appreciative society, but today there is an unprecedented atmosphere of enmity within society. I do not know their mutual obligations. I hope this government will also change peacefully,” he noted.

When asked if he thinks the time has come for this government to change, the MP responded: “We cannot exclude anything. There may be both regular elections and snap elections. No one knew in January 2018 that a change of power would take place in April, so there is no need for speculation. The most important thing is for the government to remember why it came to power, what it promised the people, what program it presented, and engage in its implementation. If it is failing in some areas, at least it should not hinder those who contribute to the solution of at least some of the thousands of problems in this country with their personal authority.”

To the question of whether there were dangerous messages in Serge Sargsyan’s recent speech that could lead to silencing him, he stated, “There could have been because Sargsyan's speech was not a compliment to this government; it addressed our legal security issues, which naturally would not be pleasant for the authorities. However, I cannot assert that the initiation of a criminal case against Serge Sargsyan was politically motivated. That cannot be ruled out, but to make such an assertion, you need to be informed, and I do not have such information.”

Gevorg Petrosyan expressed that the current government is now doing what it accused the previous one of, stating, “The endless prolongation of trials is the approach of the former authorities; what they accused their predecessors of, they are now doing themselves. The people say, ‘If you have arrested that person, he is guilty, punish him,’ but this constant detention and release on bail, personal guarantees, how long can this show continue to feed this nation? If the previous customs were to continue in the same manner, no one needed this revolution, except for a few people who have seen noticeable progress in their living conditions.”

Earlier, it was reported that based on sufficient evidence obtained during the pre-investigation of a criminal case being conducted by the Special Investigation Service of Armenia, the former President of Armenia, Serge Sargsyan, has been charged under part 3 of article 38-179 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for committing a public dangerous act by organizing the embezzlement of a particularly large amount of money, totaling 489,160,310 AMD, through the wasteful methods by a group of official persons from January 25 to February 7 of the year 2013 while he was in office from April 9, 2008, to April 9, 2018.