Why is LHK's Candidate Marukyan, Not Vazgen Manukyan? Khajakyans Clarifies

Member of the Yerevan City Council from the "Light" faction, David Khajakyan, has made a post on Facebook detailing why the LHK did not join the nomination of a united candidate from 16 opposition parties and presented its own candidate.

"Yesterday, 16 political forces announced that their united candidate is former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan. This is a logical continuation of the internal political processes, where, alongside a change of power, the forces present their candidates for Prime Minister. According to the Constitution of Armenia, both in the case of impeachment and resignation of the Prime Minister, the new transitional Prime Minister will be elected by the parliament. It is clear that 'My Step' has lost the trust of the public, and it is natural that in the upcoming elections, alongside the forces currently in the parliament, other forces outside the parliament will also participate and record certain successes. It is also clear that those forces that are not recognized or have a strongly negative perception among the public will not be in parliament. At least for the next year, the political map is very clear.

In these processes, the 'Bright Armenia' party has its role. The LHK has had and defended its vision during the previous administrations and has been represented in parliament. In response to the failures of the My Step government, the LHK has launched oppositional activities in this parliament and has been subjected to bullying attacks and persecution. After the unfortunate statement signed on November 9, the LHK declared that Pashinyan must leave, a new transitional Prime Minister should be elected, and snap parliamentary elections should be held.

For me, as a founding member of the LHK, it would be at least incomprehensible if the party did not have its Prime Minister candidate and supported, for example, the leader of one of the previous or current forces. At the same time, although it has confronted both old and new governmental forces during its activities, it has not sought enemies within the country and, unlike many forces, has the face to look its competitors directly in the eye.

I have great respect for all those forces and people who are ready to take on the responsibility for the complex and heavy decisions expected in this decisive period. I respect all the presidents of Armenia, each of whom (strong or weak) has laid a stone for the establishment of our statehood.

At this crossroads, as a citizen of the newly independent state, I look forward. I see the contribution of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharian, Serzh Sargsyan, Vazgen Manukyan, and many others ahead of me, but I do not see them as leaders of the state, whether transitional or permanent.

Edmon Marukyan is our candidate for Prime Minister. Yes, he does not have the trust of 80% of the people, and may God enable that no one in Armenia has such ratings anymore, as that would be disastrous. Yes, he does not have media holdings to appropriately cover his activities or present his candidacy as it is currently presented for Vazgen Manukyan. Instead, he has a solid team and diligence that compensate for this gap. Yes, the team is not large, but who says that any force in Armenia can succeed without inclusive politics? We have seen the fruits of politics of 'whether it's our own or not'.

When I decided to join Marukyan and create Bright Armenia, I did so by seeing his foresightedness, principled stance, and steadfastness in the fight. Since that day, many things have changed in the country, but Marukyan's approaches to working selflessly, not seeking enemies within, and conducting a reasonable and civilized struggle have not bent.

I believe that when the processes reach the nominations of candidates, Bright Armenia will nominate Edmon Marukyan, who I am confident will be elected as the transitional Prime Minister with the participation of other forces in parliament and will properly organize snap elections. The consequences of this disaster must be overcome, and the country must move forward," Khajakyan wrote.