The regular session of the ruling coalition took place recently. It’s not known when and where exactly the session took place because based on the released statement no details are provided. During this session the coalition adopted a statement. “The governing coalition reportedly pledged not to undermine each other’s political parties in the run-up to Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections. They agreed to contest the vote in an “atmosphere of mutual tolerance” and make sure that there is only “civilized competition” among the three parties. “On the strategic issues connected with the election conduct, the coalition is consolidated around President Sargsyan. The three coalition forces must do everything to ensure that the electoral struggle takes place in an atmosphere of political tolerance,” reads the coalition statement, which was surprisingly spread by the press service of the RPA. This statement of the coalition is noteworthy because it drastically differs from the last coalition declaration, dated on February 17 of the previous year. “Closer to the new changes the coalition parties are unanimous and unified. Therefore, during the elections they don’t have a purpose to compete against each other or gain more seats in parliament at the expense of the partners,” read the statement signed about a year ago. This has created a ground that the RPA and PA will run on a single list. Closer to elections the two parties have decided to “compete with each other based on civilized rules of competition.” The upcoming political developments will soon tell to what extent this formulation will be maintained. Moreover, unlike the last year declaration the recent statement not only doesn’t say to support a joint presidential candidate in 2013 but also they have referred to a document signed a year ago.
