In an interview with “Haykakan Zhamanak,” Hovik Abrahamian, the parliament speaker and President Serzh Sarkisian’s election campaign manager, does not rule out the Prosperous Armenia Party’s return to the government after the February 18 election. “In politics, never say never,” says Abrahamian. “Everything is possible. But no such concrete issue has been discussed. There is no such agreement.” Abrahamian also refuses to comment on reports that two senior BHK figures were seen visiting Sarkisian’s campaign headquarters this week.
“By and large, everything is predictable in this election campaign,” writes “Hayots Ashkhar” in an editorial. “For instance, the fact that BHK officials are voicing, one by one, support for the incumbent president.” The pro-presidential paper says that they made very different statements just a few months ago.
“God has been merciful toward us and we are in a situation where we have all chances to hold the best elections ever,” “Zhamanak” quotes Sarkisian as saying during a campaign rally in Yeghegnadzor on Thursday. The paper is skeptical about this pledge, saying that “throughout his five-year presidency Serzh Sarkisian has consistently ruined the political field with all possible and impossible methods.” “So it is not clear how the effectively uncompetitive elections can be deemed the best ever,” it says.
Georgian political analyst Ivlian Khaindrava tells “Aravot” that Georgian-Armenian relations should improve under Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. “[President Mikheil] Saakashvili has been and remains a grandmaster of self-advertisement,” says Khaindrava. “He was able to successfully present rhetoric as action. And yet sometimes there was a total contradiction between his rhetoric and realities, even though it has to be admitted that he has pursued smooth and good-neighborly relations with Armenia. It could not have been otherwise. Ivanishvili is a person who is focused on concrete work. But one should not immediately expect heavenly manna from him. And one should not grab him by the throat to demand an immediate change of a situation that has for years been neglected.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
“By and large, everything is predictable in this election campaign,” writes “Hayots Ashkhar” in an editorial. “For instance, the fact that BHK officials are voicing, one by one, support for the incumbent president.” The pro-presidential paper says that they made very different statements just a few months ago.
“God has been merciful toward us and we are in a situation where we have all chances to hold the best elections ever,” “Zhamanak” quotes Sarkisian as saying during a campaign rally in Yeghegnadzor on Thursday. The paper is skeptical about this pledge, saying that “throughout his five-year presidency Serzh Sarkisian has consistently ruined the political field with all possible and impossible methods.” “So it is not clear how the effectively uncompetitive elections can be deemed the best ever,” it says.
Georgian political analyst Ivlian Khaindrava tells “Aravot” that Georgian-Armenian relations should improve under Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. “[President Mikheil] Saakashvili has been and remains a grandmaster of self-advertisement,” says Khaindrava. “He was able to successfully present rhetoric as action. And yet sometimes there was a total contradiction between his rhetoric and realities, even though it has to be admitted that he has pursued smooth and good-neighborly relations with Armenia. It could not have been otherwise. Ivanishvili is a person who is focused on concrete work. But one should not immediately expect heavenly manna from him. And one should not grab him by the throat to demand an immediate change of a situation that has for years been neglected.”
(Tigran Avetisian)