ARMENIAN PRESIDENT WILL NOT HOLD DIALOG WITH OPPOSITION LEADER
Interfax News Agency
July 21 2008
Russia
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan does not want dialog with opposition
leader, ex-president Levon Ter- Petrossian.
"Dialog implies communication with people, the society, not between the
president and a certain individual," he told a Monday press briefing
in Yerevan.
"What should we talk about if their only demand is an early
presidential election? Should we talk about the time of the new
election? We are tired of elections, and the next election Armenia
has will be regular," he said.
Asked whether Armenia can fulfill the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) resolutions on time, Sargsyan said,
"If we fail to do something, nothing terrible will happen."
The PACE adopted the resolutions after the March riots in Yerevan,
when ten people were killed and over 250 wounded in clashes between
the opposition and the police. The resolutions said that Armenia
must hold an independent investigation into the March events, free
political prisoners and guarantee citizens’ rights to rallies. If
the demands are not fulfilled by the PACE session of January 2009,
Armenia may lose its vote.
"It would be desirable to find a solution as soon as possible, but
it is wrong to set any time limit. Armenia volunteered to take the
commitments, and it would fulfill them," Sargsyan said.