YEREVAN—A delegation of Armenian Revolutionary Federation leaders on Thursday met with President Serzh Sarkisian, as part of series of consultations the president held with the parties represented in the National Assembly.
Heading the ARF delegation was its Bureau chairman Hrant Markarian and leaders of the party’s parliamentary bloc Armen Rustamian and Aghvan Vartanian.
Sarkisian also held similar meetings Thursday with representatives of the Prosperous Armenia Party and Rule of Law, which is part of the ruling coalition. The Armenian National Congress and the Heritage Party declined to meet with the president.
On Wednesday, Rustamian had announced that his party would be pushing for the adoption of a seven-point platform proposed to Sarkisian in 2012, which includes changing Armenia’s government to a parliamentary system and the withdrawal of Armenia’s signature from the dangerous Armenia-Turkey protocols.
Following Thursday’s meeting, Rustamisn told Yerkir.am that the ARF delegation expressed its views on the current state of affairs in Armenia, as they pertained to the seven-point plan.
Rustamian said that his party’s delegation expressed hope that the new government, which is to be appointed following the resignation of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan last week, will not be a continuation of the old one and would “instill hope and create an opportunity to open a new chapter.”
According to the ARF leader, Sarkisian promised the delegation that he would review their recommendations and assess the feasibility of including them in the new government policies. Rustamian elaborated that the ARF’s posturing will depend on the president’s response to the party’s suggestions.
Rustamian also clarified that while there was discussion about the soon to be formed government, the ARF delegation did not discuss any specific names, as the party’s aim is to ensure the proper reforms will take place to address the needs of the citizens of Armenia.
The ARF leader rejects rumors that the ARF was in negotiations with the president to form a new coalition government, emphasizing that the ARF’s cooperation with the government is contingent of the government’s willingness to adopt the party’s proposals.
Rustamian also touched an earlier meeting the president had Thursday to discuss proposed changes to Armenia’s Constitution, which envisions Armenia changing to a parliamentary form of government.
He said that such a change created a good basis to continue future discussions, but added that any amendments to the constitution must be comprehensive and complete.
I usually criticize the ARF, but in this case good for them. This is how democracy works: governing and opposition parties negotiating over the best policies to improve the nations political and socio-economic development. LOYAL opposition parties are important in healthy and balanced development. I hope to see more civil developments on Armenia’s domestic political front as a sign of stable. steady, peaceful, political and socio-economic development and evolution.
Contrast this with the decrepit LTP group and the radical, American-controlled group calling itself Heritage. In the last two presidential election, both of these traitorous groups attempted a power grab through instigating bloody riots and regime change in Yerevan despite the fact that even the western elections observers certified that the elections were largely free and democratic (expect the U.S. State Department which at first certified fair and free elections and then issued a diktat from within its highest office claiming otherwise, but what kind of degenerate Armenian actually believes that the same State Department which actively denies the Armenian Genocide and denies the rights of Artsakh and Crimea to self-determination would somehow be honest about Armenia’s elections). LTP was responsible for ten deaths after months of “Karabakh clan” hate speech created a violent mon before Armenia’s Security agencies put down his rebellion; while Raffi’s “barevolution” fizzled out because Raffi has virtually zero support outside of Yerevan. Let’s all realize that had LTP in 2008 or Raffi in 2013 actually succeeded in overthrowing the Armenian Government, the Azeris would have completely occupied Artsakh, and Yerevan would have been as bloody as Libya, Syria and Afghanistan.
“This is how democracy works” ???? We knew ARF!