Armenian speaker: Ruling party has no obvious competitors

The ruling Civil Contract party currently has no obvious political competitors, according to Alen Simonyan, Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia.

As reported by Caliber.Az, citing Armenian media, Simonyan made the remarks while responding to a journalist’s question about the formation of electoral lists that may include potential candidates for prime minister and who he considers the main rival to the ruling party.

“I must say that at the moment no clear competitor is visible, and this is not only my personal opinion — it is confirmed by our discussions. There is a long-established force on the political scene with a strong party system that has declared its ambitions. There is also a new force seeking to attract part of the youth vote. There are even several such forces trying to present an offer to young people. There is also a force presenting itself as a surprise, but the more its representatives speak, the clearer it becomes that there is no surprise. In short, all the colours of the mosaic are present, and honestly, it is unclear who the real competitor is,” Simonyan said.

He added that the ruling authorities traditionally regard their strongest challenger as themselves.

“Our dialogue with the people of the Republic of Armenia has taken place; this conversation continues and will continue, therefore I cannot focus on and name anything specific,” the Speaker of the National Assembly emphasised.

By Tamilla Hasanova