Republican party list consists of principle, strong individuals ready for political fight: Armen Ashotyan

Criticism over inclusion of Artashes Geghamyan and Menua Harutyunyan in the list of candidates of Republican party is artificial and an end in itself, party’s vice chairman Armen Ashotyan said, speaking to Aysor.am.

“Party’s rebranding is a continuous process. Nikol Pashinyan’s one-sided decision to move the conduction of snap elections from May to December violated the normal process of activity of political forces, including the Republican's,” he said, adding that they failed to conduct party’s congress which was to discuss new leadership of the party, new program.

“It was one of the chief reasons why we were against conduction of snap elections in December. The parties have neither enough time nor equal opportunities for participating in them,” he stressed.

Ashotyan also stressed that the party’s list of candidates includes people who have strength, wish, knowledge and loyalty to continue political fight in this difficult time for the party.

“The party is passing through difficult time but it has good future, and the people involved in the list are ready to fight for their principles, for their system of values, to establish party’s place in the political life of the country, in the new parliament,” Ashotyan said.

“It is difficult to predict our chances but it is obvious that the Republican party’s presence in the parliament will be a counterbalance to the ruling force,” party’s vice chairman said.

“The Civil Contract party must understand that the NA needs strong and principle opposition… By targeting the Republicans before the campaign, which they even do not hide, they show that the acting authorities do not have any result to show for their 6-7 months of activity, they do not have vision of Armenia’s future, they do not have development program, and now they will try to squeeze the political force and criticize and target exclusively the Republican party. It also means that they view the Republican party as real opposition otherwise they would not have directed all their efforts for continuously discrediting it,” Ashotyan said.

The vice chairman of the party also noted that the campaign slogan of the party is still being discussed but only after the final decision it will be known to public.