The Authorities Are Always in Direct Contact with Citizens, Scaring Us with the People Is Not Right - Alen Simonian

In anticipation of the rally on October 8, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) and its partners—the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and the Homeland Party—announce that they will demand extraordinary parliamentary elections. Under what conditions can this demand be satisfied?

After the meeting of the ruling Civil Contract Party (CP) concluded, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonian, addressed this question, stating that he has one main concern. He noted that in a pandemic situation, where an increase in coronavirus numbers is observed, organizing such a gathering will likely increase the numbers of infected.

According to the Deputy Speaker, opposition forces are free in their demands and political activities. “I think the citizens of the Republic of Armenia are very well acquainted with both the path traveled by the ARF over the past decade and the path of the BHK. They are also aware of the evaluations and opinions that have been voiced regarding the Homeland Party,” he said.

“The current gathering, in the context of the trio, has its own personal agenda for each of the three parties. For the BHK, for example, it seems to be an attempt to form a political sanctuary around the criminal cases concerning Gagik Tsarukyan. For the ARF, it appears to be an attempt to restart in politics, which does not seem to be working out. Although the visual image has changed, the evaluation of the activities that led to the ARF failing to pass even the threshold has not changed. As for Arthur Vanetsyan, I will refrain from comments; I do not wish to speak on that matter.

Operating within that old format will always harm those three forces. The authorities of the Republic of Armenia are always in direct contact with the citizens. We discuss all grievances and concerns with our citizens, we listen to all of it, and if necessary, we try to explain our position. If we succeed, we succeed; if we do not, we draw conclusions and try to rectify the situation. Therefore, scaring us with the people and raising conversations related to the people in any political agenda is a bit incorrect, because, for example, this could have been done in the case of Serzh Sargsyan, which, for instance, was done by two of those very same forces. It could have been done in the case of Robert Kocharyan, which was not done,” said Alen Simonian.