The society demands that the forces unite, and today Levon Ter-Petrosyan has the biggest possibility to bring them together. Most political forces, the intelligentsia already support him. It means there is potential to bring together everyone. This statement was made by the chair of the People’s Party of Armenia, Stepan Demirchyan at Hayeli Club. In his words the First President has "re-signified his past path." In his opinion, the main opponents will be the government’s candidate and Levon Ter-Petrosyan. He thinks even Levon Ter-Petrosyan will stand no chance if he runs in the election alone. “We think it is necessary to form a strong opposition pole and our efforts have always been directed at this aim. Therefore, personally I am not likely to run in the election this time. It is necessary to form a strong pole, and the serious and responsible political forces should realize that if they run separately they have no chance, if the purpose is not to win. Our purpose is to win, to bring about real changes,” Demirchyan says. The leader of the People’s Party of Armenia Demirchyan stated he is not likely to run in the presidential election but he will make his final decision by the end of the month. “We think it is necessary to form a strong opposition pole and our efforts have always been directed at this aim. Therefore, personally I am not likely to run in the election this time. It is necessary to form a strong pole, and the serious and responsible political forces should realize that if they run separately they have no chance, if the purpose is not to win. Our purpose is to win, to bring about real changes. If the opposition doesn’t unite the government will benefit from it,” Demirchyan says. As to the results of the poll by the British ComRes agency which gives about 40 percent to Serge Sargsyan and almost no rating to Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Stepan Demirchyan says a serious person cannot take it seriously. The leader of the People’s Party of Armenia also says if he is unlikely to run, it does not mean that the members of the People’s Party of Armenia do not want him to run in the election. Moreover, the party wanted to nominate him, Stepan Demirchyan says, but he says referring to the thesis of unification that the ranks of the People’s Party of Armenia will understand that he is not running in the election, as well as support for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, especially after the recent meeting of Levon Ter-Petrosyan with the activists of the party at the office of the PPA. "No serious person can take those poll results seriously. It’s obvious that Ter-Petrosyan’s rating is increasing. But the British poll results are exaggerated and it is no news for everyone." What is the reason that the society now relies on the ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan it had rejected ten years ago rather than on the renowned political opposition leaders of the recent past? “I stated some time ago about public demand. The society demands that the forces unite, and today Levon Ter-Petrosyan has the biggest possibility to bring them together. This is the intrigue of the day,” Demirchyan says. He was also asked what advice the candidate who in fact won the presidential election of 2003, but other outcome was officially announced, can give to Levon Ter-Petrosyan what to do in February 2008 not to let the government get away with vote tampering because probably the same will occur in 2008 with renewed methods. “I thought there would be no such questions now, however, when I am not going to run in the presidential election, there is no end, a Constitutional way, and so on. I think at that time we made no mistakes, there were manipulations indeed, but we prevented bloodshed then. We prevented the country from bloodshed, out of the supreme interests of Armenia. I am sure that Levon Ter-Petrosyan approves this way. It does not mean that the peaceful track leads nowhere. The same should be done but more consistently and in a better organized manner. The most important thing is the consistency of the political forces and activists. But let us not go ahead of the developments,” says the leader of the People’s Party of Armenia.
