Will a 'Kocharian' Alliance Be Formed? Opposition Leaders Meet

According to the information from the newspaper "Zhoghovourd," a meeting of opposition leaders took place a few days ago. Former Armenian Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan attended the meeting, along with Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party, Arthur Vanetsyan from the Fatherland party, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and Vazgen Manukyan, the candidate for prime minister from the Hayastan bloc.

During the meeting, the agenda included discussions on entering early parliamentary elections on June 20 against the ruling authorities. It was reported that Vazgen Manukyan was particularly disheartened, stating that he does not plan to participate in the elections and will continue the street struggle through which he believes he can achieve the desired outcome.

In his remarks, Manukyan noted that the gathered forces had not utilized their entire resources to dismiss Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which has led to the current situation where Pashinyan decides when and how the elections should be held.

Furthermore, Manukyan hinted that there were internal forces among them that went to negotiate with the authorities and took them into account, which is why they faced defeat.

Some of the leaders tried to convince Manukyan that this was the only way to achieve a change of power, but he remained unyielding. Regarding the format of participation in the elections, the opposition leaders have not reached a final decision. It appears that, except for the ARF and Robert Kocharian, everyone believes they should participate separately in the elections. The ARF and Kocharian are likely to join forces under the "Kocharian" alliance.