President Sargsyan does not rule out his nomination for Prime Minister of Armenia

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan talked to Tert.am, commenting on his announcement made in 2014, according to which he would never be nominated for the leader of the country. Serzh Sargsyan says that the issue has been discussed in various formats among the members of the Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, despite those discussions have not still reached institutional levels. The President notes that many of his colleagues have talked to him about the issue, but he does not know when the discussions will be over. But if finally it’s decided that his candidacy should be nominated, Serzh Sargsyan will have one precondition.

-Mr. President, in your famous speech you announced that in case of switching to the parliamentary system of governance you will not strive for the post of the Prime Minister and added that one person should not lead the country more than 2 terms. Today the opposition periodically refers to that announcement. The question is the following. Will you become the Prime Minister of Armenia in April?

– First I think it’s time to deny the simple tactic of quoting out of context and it’s time to listen to the political content, grasp it and discuss it. And the political content is clear, but not simple. When a political figure wants to make a political announcement that he will not be somewhere in the future, he says that he will not be here, as I clearly announced that I will not be the President of the Republic of Armenia. But when a claim contains political context and is about aspirations and perceptions, this is another level. It is not difficult to differentiate. As refers to aspirations, yes, I do not strive for the post of the Prime Minister today as well. But I have never considered myself a person guided by prejudice or stubborn thinking. I cannot ignore the reality and think that I have no responsibility for the smooth progress of our country now and in the future. On the one hand today we have the positive results of our foreign policy that give us serious backlog of strength and we have reached such a level of domestic stability that it already has its positive result on economic indexes, but on the other hand one cannot ignore the challenges that unfortunately, only increased during the Constitutional changes. We lived through the April war, saw people in the capital ready to solve issues with the help of weapons, and today we e forces that without taking into account the possible outcomes are ready to raise issues in the streets irrespective of the fact if the issues are in the framework of politics or logic or no.

It’s not a secret for anyone that the issue has been discussed in various formats for months inside the Republican Party of Armenia, that assumed the political responsibility to form the Government based on the parliamentary elections, and the ARF that is in coalition with the RPA, though those discussions have not still reached the party-institutional level. Many of my colleagues have talked to me about the issue, but I do not know when the discussions will be over. But if finally it’s decided that my candidacy should be nominated, I will have one precondition, which is that parallel to the full implementation of my constitutional powers I will allocate more time to convey the entire experience of the years our country has passed to the young political leaders. This is an issue of key importance for today. We all have something to do for shaping new political leaders irrespective of their party belonging and their current political ordering.