YEREVAN, ARMENIA – In a recent interview given by MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan, representative of the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia to NEWS.am, the opposition leader provided clarifications on whether the opposition will participate in any parliamentary sessions in the fall. Responding to recent media reports on supposed changes in the opposition’s tactics, he responded that there is no change from the opposition’s previous positions regarding participating in parliamentary sessions.
“Of course there is no change in our previous positions. By the way, I said what we have been saying for the past three months. However, a headline was cut from the text that appeared in some news outlets, which was manipulated by some circles. In any case, I will repeat what I said once more. If the opposition goes to the parliament, it will go exclusively with its agenda, the agenda formed by our people, which the ‘Resistance’ movement is fighting for. That agenda is very clear: Nikol’s departure and (implementation of) our initiatives to solve the vital issues of Armenia and Artsakh. We have precedents for this, for example, when on June 3 we convened an extraordinary session regarding the ‘Shushi Declaration’. I am talking about similar cases, which are in on our demands and on our agenda. The rest is useless speculation, which should not be paid attention to.”
Responding to the question on whether the opposition will participate if the ruling faction initiates a discussion, or the government brings a project on the mentioned issues, Saghatelyan answered, “No, of course not, because this government, instead of serving the interests of Armenia or Artsakh, serves Turkish-Azerbaijani interests. Therefore they cannot bring a pro-Armenian agenda to the parliament, in which would participate.”
