Ruben Hakobyan withdraws from race
The Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) has found many interesting proposals in the programs of the three candidates nominated as the next parliament speaker, says BHK lawmaker Naira Zorabyan. She says the opposition quartet did not consider the issue of naming a single candidate. “We knew that Ruben Hakobyan might be nominated but we were surprised to hear Hrant Bagratyan’s name among the candidates. We understand that the problems existing in the country cannot be resolved by the election of a parliament speaker. Tomorrow, we shall discuss the issue again to decide which of the candidates we are going to support.” Head of the Heritage parliamentary faction Ruben Hakobyan today withdrew from the race and called on other factions to boycott the election. Hrant Bagratyan, another candidate for the position, a lawmaker of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), said his decision should not be linked to the HAK faction; he was simply executing the demand of people. He is not going to withdraw and leave the Republican Party with its front-runner [Galust Sahakyan] for the post. Galust Sahakyan welcomed the fact that Bagratyan will not withdraw his candidacy.
