SERZH SARGSYAN: ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT HAVING TALKS WITH OPPOSITION

Regnum
March 3 2008
Russia

"We are ready to cooperate and have open, direct talks with opposition
activists and everyone wishing Armenia to be developing, stable and
more powerful," said Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who
won the February 19 parliamentary elections. He made the statement
at a meeting with a delegation headed by the European Union Special
Representative for South Caucasus Peter Semneby.

As REGNUM is told at the pres office of the Armenian government,
at the meeting on March 3, the parties discussed the post-election
situation in Armenia, in particular, the disorders in the Armenian
capital and possible way ca settling the issue. According to the EU
special representative, all the parties must show readiness and take
measures to overcome the situation, to avoid increasing the split
in society and come to solution of the problems through political
dialog. "We want South Caucasus countries to be closer to the EU and
we are ready to do the utmost in this direction," said Semneby.

In his turn, Serzh Sargsyan stressed he was very resolute and believed
that those who committed penal actions must be held responsible. He
stressed that the government was ready to cooperate and noted that with
this aim the talks with representatives of opposition would continue,
that they already had positive response and the results would soon
be evident.

To remind, on March 1, an opposition rally was dispersed in Yerevan.

The opposition called for a new presidential election. A spontaneous
protest action turned into a mass rally. Police forces tried to
push the protesters from the square near the French embassy, which
resulted in scuffles and then disorders, during which under official
information eight people were killed, 131 wounded. Later that night,
the state of emergency was imposed in Yerevan, special troops were
drawn up to the city.