A new political situation has developed in Armenia, but not everyone seem to be aware of that, National Assembly (NA) Vice-Speaker, ruling Republican Party (RPA) Spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov told journalists today.
He also added that President Serzh Sargsyan's recent announcement, according to which he will not "take helm" for the third term, was a declaration on the new rules of the game which, however, is not yet fully understood. Armenian politics is transitioning to a network-horizontal model of governance which will lessen one person's role in the hierarchy of state governance and increase the role of the political parties, Sharmazanov said.
The RPA spokesperson also said it is apparent that RPA will continue to be the leader in Armenian politics for approximately at least the next ten years. "But what is the most remarkable aspect of the moment? It is Serzh Sargsyan's self-exclusion, which means the playing field is open and competitive. But, first and foremost, this competition is inside the Republican Party," Eduard Sharmazanov said. To note, according to some experts, when initiating the Constitutional reforms president of Armenia has closed the way to the power for his predecessors, and first of all, the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. Earlier in an interview with the 2rd.am portal Robert Kocharyan slagged off the Constitutional reforms and the economic policy conducted by Serzh Sargsyan. In particular, when touching on Serzh Sargsyan's statement that some former top officials are looking for their success in the failure of the incumbent power, Kocharyan said that this is Sargsyan's personal point of view, especially that assessment of Kocharyan's activity at the top state positions in Armenia and the NKR does not at all depend on effectiveness of activity of the current authorities.