Mother Armenia bloc ready to cooperate with other parties on condition they support its efforts to topple Pashinyan’s government
YEREVAN, September 18. /ARKA/. The leader of Mother Armenia bloc Andranik Tevanyan said the party that would like to cooperate with the bloc must give a political assessment of the policy of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, must rule out cooperation with Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party and also must share the bloc’s position that Pashinyan’s government must be made step down.
The Mother Armenia bloc won 35,739 votes (15.43%) in the September 17 elections to the Council of Elders of Yerevan. The other four parties that have won seats in the Council of Elders are Public Voice - 22,431 votes (9.68%), Civil Contract - 75,463 votes (32.57%), National Progress - 43,765 votes (18.89%) and Hanrapetutyun (Republic) party - 26,236 votes (11.32%).
Asked whether the bloc was negotiating a coalition with the National Progress party, led by ex-mayor Hayk Marutyan, Tevanyan said there were no direct talks as such, adding that a mandate in the Council of Elders or the position of mayor were not priorities for him.
"As for Marutyan, given the percentage of votes gained by his party, we can help him get the necessary votes to nominate a candidate for mayor, and we will do so if we are sure that he shares our agenda for a complete change of power. I would like to repeat that we are not seeking any positions in the future municipality," Tevanyan said.
When asked to comment on the circulating rumors that Marutyan will agree to a make a coalition with other opposition forces, but on condition that no coalition agreement is signed, Tevanyan said that this information does not correspond to reality, because there were no such negotiations.
To nominate a candidate for the post of mayor a party or a bloc should control at least 33 seats in the assembly.
The outgoing Council of Elders was elected in September 2018. PM Pashinyan’s supporters hold 57 seats in it. Its term will expire on October 10, 2023. -0-
