Republican Party of Armenia Discusses Possible Coalition Government

Republican Party of Armenia Discusses Possible Coalition Government –

Azatutyun – President Serzh Sarkisian met with senior members of his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) late on Thursday to discuss the possibility of reaching power-sharing agreements with other parties loyal to the government.

The meeting of the HHK’s governing body came almost a week after Sarkisian reportedly offered the Armenian Revolution Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) to rejoin the government. Hrant Markarian, a Dashnaktsutyun leader who met with the president, said his party is ready to accept the offer.

Dashnaktsutyun as well as the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) used to be part of a governing coalition dominated by the HHK. They left it for different reasons in 2009 and 2012 respectively. The BHK says that it has received no coalition offers yet.

“Discussions are underway but there are no final solutions yet,” Gagik Minasian, a member of the HHK board, told reports after the late-night meeting chaired by Sarkisian. “Only further discussions will allow us to say what the format of cooperation with other parties will be.”

“The Republican Party has always been ready for cooperation in different formats,” said Minasian. “Will that be a coalition or another format? I can’t tell at this point. That will probably be clarified in the near future.”

Minasian also declined to name the parties, apart from Dashnaktsutyun, with which the HHK would like to join forces. Nor would he say whether ruling party could form a coalition government before Armenia’s next parliamentary elections due in 2017.