ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTY DISMISSES REPORTS ON DEFECTION OF MPS

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
20 Jun 07

[Presenter] The Orinats Yerkir party continues to deny that Sergey
Abrahamyan and Khachik Petrosyan, who have been elected to parliament
from the party’s list of candidates, are going to leave the party
soon. Orinats Yerkir vice chairman Mher Shahgeldyan dismissed the
rumours as groundless today [20 June]. He also said denied that
prominent members of the party periodically leave it. He did not rule
out the possibility that the party may cooperate with the authorities
in the National Assembly. We will support approaches tackling various
issues, he said when answering a question regarding cooperation with
the authorities. Shahgeldyan said his party backs the idea of having
a joint candidate from the opposition in the forthcoming presidential
election.

[Mher Shahgeldyan, addressing the news conference] We think that
a joint candidate will mean a wake-up and our ranks have the same
approach towards the idea of having a joint candidate. The Orinats
Yerkir party has always considered this right, and we have never had
unnecessary ambitions.