A leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Karen Karapetian’s policies but declined to clarify whether the party represented in his government would like him to retain his post next year.
“Novelties which began to be introduced by the prime minister need time, but we will see [their impact] in our lives,” Armen Rustamian told reporters. “The pace [of change] may not be satisfactory, but the direction adopted by the government correspondents to our views by 99 percent.”
Rustamian would not say whether this means that Dashnaktsutyun wants Karapetian to remain prime minister after President Serzh Sarkisian completes his final term in April. “For us, the key thing is the directions adopted by the government,” he said. “They are not connected with individuals.”
“As for who will implement [government programs,] it is certainly important for us that he or she can do this job wholeheartedly. But there are many such people. So in that sense, individuals are not that important to us,” he added.
Rustamian refused to speculate on whether Sarkisian would do a better job as prime minister than Karapetian has. “Time will tell,” he said.
Sarkisian has still not said whether he plans to become prime minister after the end of his decade-long presidency. Another Dashnaktsutyun leader, Aghvan Vartanian, said in July that top representatives of his party hope to discuss the matter with the president soon. “Naturally, the question of who will be prime minister is important to Dashnaktsutyun,” Vartanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Dashnaktsutyun is a junior partner in Sarkisian’s coalition government, having held three ministerial posts for the past 18 months. It extended its power-sharing deal with Sarkisian and his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) following parliamentary elections held in April.
Dashnaktsutyun controls 7 seats in Armenia’s 105-member parliament, compared with 58 seats held by the HHK.
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