It is already known that prime minister Tigran Sargsyan has taken with him to the RPA with team, which includes the ministers of economic blocks Tigran Davtyan and Nerses Yeritsyan, chief of staff of the government Davit Sargsyan, his advisor Aram Gharibyan, deputy-minister of finances Vardan Aramyan, deputy-minister of transport and communication Artashes Avetisyan, deputy-minister of culture Arev Samuelyan, first vice-head of the state revenue committee Karine Minasyan and others. A part of these statesmen used to work with Sargsyan at the Central Bank of Armenia and had been loyal to Sargsyan till nowadays. Prior to the parliamentary elections of 2007, when a number of businessmen joined the RPA together with Serzh Sargsyan there were opinions that this party was semi-criminalized. Now with the same tone many people say that the RPA will include the team of young intellectuals. At any rate, the prime minister and many of the mentioned statesmen have this opinion about themselves. They say that when Sargsyan was appointed prime minister the government was holding seminars in the regions regarding economic reforms and hence his team gained the image of young intellectual reformists. At any rate, Sargsyan is almost an outstanding republican and has even managed to make a political statement in the NA on behalf of his political team. Nevertheless, yesterday we tried to check from the deputy-head of the RPA whether the former member of the ANM and NDU Tigran Sargsyan was made to join the party or he did it voluntarily and it was his beloved dream. Mr. Zohrabyan first mentioned that this is the voluntary decision of Sargsyan and that nobody has made him join the RPA. None of the top officials has given any public explanations of their moves which were announced shortly after Tigran Sargsyan formally joined the RPA. Their decision to follow suit was described as “natural” by Razmik Zohrabyan, a deputy chairman of the RPA. “The officials are in the prime minister’s team,” argued Zohrabyan. Local observers regard the development as an expression of President Sargsyan’s unwavering support for his reformist prime minister. “You would not be mistaken to believe that if a person has a party affiliation he complies with the party’s decisions and if he has no affiliation he may act freely,” Zohrabyan said. “Today there is a need for the country’s leadership to act like a united team. In that sense, the prime minister and perhaps some ministers should be party members.” Let us recall that prior to this many issues within certain parties were connected with the name of the prime minister. The chair of the HRAK party Harutyun Arakelyan has numerously mentioned that Sargsyan is trying to fragment the party headed by him. So it happened. Recently the Armenakan Ramkavar party was elected. Sargsyan also had meetings with the chair of another traditional party of Armenia Sedrak Atchemyan (Henchak party) and there was an opinion that he was trying to fulfill certain political goals through this party. The prime minister also has connection with the MIAK party. And finally there were rumors that businessman Barsegh Beglaryan was trying to establish a political party, the ideological leader of which could technically become Tigran Sargsyan. At any rate, all these rumors come to prove that Tigran Sargsyan being a target for both opposition and governmental parties are looking for political backup for themselves. And soon this search would give its result but he was on the way of becoming an RPA member. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be desirable for Serzh Sargsyan to have a prime minister belonging to another political platform. If he is to continue the post of the prime minister then he has to become a member of the common stream of the government. In the NA the RPA has a political majority and the post of the prime minister belongs to this party. Nevertheless even after the possible membership of Sargsyan to the RPA the rumors of his resignation won’t stop. In the governmental circles the discussions that Sargsyan will quit his post by spring still continues. Moreover, no matter how strange it would sound many people connect this with the membership of Sargsyan to the RPA. According to that version, he may even be threatened by the destiny of Tigran Torosyan. Let us remember that the party of the latter has unilaterally decided that Torosyan should refuse the post of the NA chair. As a result, Torosyan left the mentioned post and the RPA. Thus, it is not excluded that this logic may work with Tigran Sargsyan. Indeed, Serzh Sargsyan could have signed an order of Tigran Sargsyan’s resignation without the latter’s membership to the RPA. However, in this case, his political ambitions (mentioned above) could have been demonstrated in the form of some party. And the resignation of the prime minister may hence be considered an inner party decision. In that case, Sargsyan’s opportunities will be more limited. Of course, he may deflect from the RPA with his team and thus will put himself in a worse shape as it will turn out that he’d chosen the RPA only for his political post. Of course, these are versions, which are only being discussed right now. But those may become reality in certain situations. In any case, the process of political repositioning has already started and the results will be visible in the near future. But prior to that on November 28 during the 12th congress of the RPA the party will solemnly announce the membership of Tigran Sargsyan and his team to the RPA. By the way, they say that this congress is going to be quite representative. Approximately 20 speeches are planned; there will be quests from Russia and European states. Of course, Serzh Sargsyan will make a speech too. According to Razmik Zohrabyan the president will make a reporting speech, during which he will be speaking of the party activity and report what has been achieved during the past two years. “There will be an analysis on the foreign policy and speech on the internal economic and social state of the country. He will also speak about the upcoming programs and plans, about the NKR conflict resolution and Armenia-Turkey relations. As he’s the president of the country his speech will be heard in the world,” said Zohrabyan. After the congress the RPA board session will also take place, during which the deputy-chairs of the party will be elected or re-elected and the leadership of the party will be defined.
