"THERE IS SERIOUS COMPETITION INSIDE POWER," VIKTOR DALAKIAN BELIEVES

YEREVAN, JULY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. There is a serious competition between
the President of the Republic of Armenia and the Prime Minister. This
statement was made at the July 4 press conference by Viktor Dalakian, a
RA MP.

According to him, the current government is a temporary one and was
formed as a result of the compromises made between Robert Kocharian,
the RA President, and Serge Sargsian, the RA Prime Minister. Viktor
Dalakian also mentioned that the RA President, who is not entitled to
relieve the Prime Minister of his post without the agreement of the
parliamentarian majority, is changing into an "English queen."

According to this MP, in case Serge Sargsian defeats Robert Kocharian
in the 2008 presidential elections, the executive and legislative
bodies will appear in the hands of one political force, that is, the
Republican Party of Armenia. Viktor Dalakian mentioned that, thus, if
Serge Sargsian is eager to have a maximum power, then Robert Kocharian
strives to retain his influence among the authorities as much as
possible after the elections. He quotted the President’s expression,
according to which the latter does not want to become the youngest
pensioner of the country. However, according to Viktor Dalakian, the
Prime Minister will not want to have the current President on the post
of the Prime Minister.

This competition will intensify on the eve of the elections. According
to Viktor Dalakian, one more candidature will be put forward for the
elections from the power wing in addition to the Prime Minister. He did
not give names, but mentioned that it may also be an ARF Dashnaktsutiun
representative.