Lragir, Armenia
Dec 15 2006

ROBERT KOCHARYAN MAY RESIGN AFTER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

If the scenario of the election 2007 written by the government is
performed, it is possible that Robert Kocharyan will resign after the
election, become prime minister and hold a presidential election.
This forecast was made by Member of Parliament Manuk Gasparyan who
shared it with reporters on December 15 at the Pastark Club. The
member of parliament stated that no other electoral process is
expected until May 2007 because the government does not need it.
Manuk Gasparyan says presently the government has a higher popular
rating than the opposition, even his rating is low, and Gasparyan
says he will not be surprised if the government will not need ballot
stuffing to win the election.

`I am saying now that my rating is lower now that last year, or two
years ago,’ Manuk Gasparyan says. He says his rating dropped because
TV channels and the media in general are closed to the opposition.
Even some opposition newspapers are blackening the opposition, says
the member of parliament. According to him, if this situation
continues, the opposition will have to come together and rely on
direct contact with people.

But controversy in Manuk Gasparyan’s words is evident, because he
thinks that the situation may change in 2 or 3 months, and the
government’s rating may drop. The point is that Gasparyan had
announced earlier that the government does not need to launch an
early process, because the situation is favorable for it. Meanwhile,
if Manuk Gasparyan announced that the situation may change in 2 or 3
months, it will be logical if the government initiates an early
election as long as it has a higher rating than the opposition.

Manuk Gasparyan says, however, that there is confusion in the
political sphere and the political forces do not know what they are
going to do. The public is also confused, says the member of
parliament and advises people not to vote for the present
parliamentary forces because they did not fulfill their pledges. As
to the political forces and figures who have launched election
campaign for the presidential election and are carrying on with
`black PR’, Manuk Gasparyan says it is a false start and soon it may
disappoint people. The member of paliament says, for instance, that
after water pipelines Serge Sargsyan went on with sport schools,
whereas this is what the sport committee should attend to.