Karen Karapetyan is unlikely to suceed Serzh Sargsyan (video)
Opposition lawmaker Aram Sargsyan is displeased with the activity of the government led by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and says Karapetyan is not free in his decisions. “The problems encountered in our economy are solved in Moscow.” The lawmaker says the new government will not change anything in the country. Moreover, the situation will continue to worsen, especially in view of corruption. “What changes can we expect if the acting authorities but power by bribing voters, judges buy justice and tax authorities changed articles after taking money?” said the former PM. In its Thursday sitting, the executive body of the ruling Republican party of Armenia (HHK), decided give Karen Karapetyan’s cabinet an opportunity to continue its work without significant changes. “Only the minister of justice will be changed. All other ministers will be re-appointed,” HHK Spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov said after the meeting. Anyway, Aram Sargsyan says Karen Karapetyan is ‘an alien’ for the HHK. “The people whom he brings to his team are unknown to the HHK and the Armenian people in general. We have never heard them express their opinions or shown their attitudes towards this or that process,” he said. Mr Sargsyan cannot say whether there is any disagreement between Karen Karapetyan and Serzh Sargsyan whose term of office [as the country’s president] expires in 2018. “Even if Serzh Sargsyan decides to have a successor a year later, I do not think that Karen Karapetyan will be the person to succeed Sargsyan,” he said. Listening to Serzh Sargsyan’s speech at the inaugural meeting of the new parliament, Aram Sargsyan understood that he [Serzh Sargsyan] is going to stay in power for a long time: a person leaving power in a year will not speak about his plans for 2040.
