HAK to run separately in elections to Council of Elders

The Armenian National Congress (HAK) Party will run separately in the upcoming elections to Yerevan Council of Elders.

The head of HAK parliamentary faction Levon Zurabian told RFE/RL Armenian Service that the negotiations between four political forces, namely HAK, Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), Heritage Party, and ARF-Dashnaktsutyun have not been successful and for this reason HAK has made a decision to run separately in the elections to Yerevan Council of Elders.

“A lot of consultations, negotiations in various formats regarding a single list have taken place among the four political forces, but we seem to have failed to achieve any results. Yet I believe that we should not turn it into a tragedy as the important thing is that a quadrilateral format has formed that aims to bring power in Yerevan back to the people. To this end, we can cooperate on three essential goals: first, we must agree that the authorities should become the main target of criticism,” Zurabian noted.

“Secondly, by using resources of the four political forces such as their representatives in election commissions and proxies, we can establish effective control in more than 500 polling stations of Yerevan. Thirdly, after the elections – if the Republican Party fails to secure 40% result by means of falsifications – we can form a coalition and elect a new mayor of Yerevan who will be a representative of the opposition,” Zurabian said.

As regards the decision to run separately, Levon Zurabian said: “We were the first to propose running in the elections as a single list. We were glad to see three forces – BHK, Heritage and ARFD conducting negotiations on this issue, and we would join their agreement if they reached one. Unfortunately, it did not happen, but we must struggle against the authorities even if there is no single list. HAK is determined to run in the elections to Yerevan Council of Elders”.

According to L. Zurabian, HAK has not yet decided who will lead the party list.