Hovik Abrahamian, a former prime minister who fell out with President Serzh Sarkisian earlier this year, on Tuesday praised economic policies of the current Armenian government initiated by his successor, Karen Karapetian.
Abrahamian said he is “satisfied” with the government’s track record as he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) during officials celebrations in Yerevan of the 72nd anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
Abrahamian was sacked as prime minister and replaced by Karapetian last September in a government reshuffle which Sarkisian said will reinvigorate economic reforms in the country.He quit the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) in January just days before trading verbal barbs with the president.
Over a dozen other individuals close to Abrahamian also terminated their membership in the HHK. They included his brother Henrik and the head of the HHK chapter in the southern Ararat province where Abrahamian has long had a strong influence.
Abrahamian’s son Argam resigned as mayor of the provincial capital Artashat after getting elected to Armenia’s new parliament in the April 2 elections. He ran for the National Assembly as a candidate of businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s alliance.
The former premier insisted on Tuesday that he “never left politics.” But he was vague about his political plans, saying that he will not seek to rejoin the HHK “for the moment.”
Asked whether he would like to take up a senior government post, Abrahamian said: “I’m not thinking about that. I’m having a rest right now.”