Who 'has the say' in Tsarukyan alliance? (video)
“The electoral alliance led by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan awakens hopes [among people] to see changes in the country in a peaceful way. That is why voters should cast their ballots for this force,” Tigran Urikhanyan, who is running in the April parliamentary elections on the list of the alliance, said on February 24. Many say that the bloc includes odious figures, who are not unanimously accepted by the society. “There can be different people in the alliance but they are all guided by the simple rule – to ensure economic changes in the country,” Mr Urikhanyan told journalists today. Campaigning for the elections officially starts on March 5. However, the alliance has not published its list of candidates for the April 2 elections yet. When asked to comment on this ‘confidentiality’ Tigran Urikhanyan said, “There is nothing confidential. The bloc will publish the list of election candidates in the near future.” In reply to the next question whether the alliance would follow the example of Georgia and change the course of its foreign policy to guarantee economic development in Armenia, the lawmaker said, “What does the foreign vector have to do with minerals, management of the country’s reserves or budget income? We should try to boost state budget efficiency and increase subsistence threshold.” Recently, former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan announced that Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian is the only bloc that is not controlled by the government. Does it mean that the alliance led by Gagik Tsarukyan obeys the authorities? “Our alliance is governed by Gagik Tsarukyan, and the parties it is made up of,” Urikhanyan said in reply.
