On February 18, the political council of the Prosperous Armenia Party issued an announcement that the rally to take place on Friday, February 20 at Yerevan’s Liberty Square has been cancelled.
The statement read: “Taking into consideration the extremely tense and emotional condition of society, to avoid potential provocations and clashes, the Political Council of the Prosperous Armenia Party has decided to cancel the February 20 protest rally.
As a result of political consolidation, we will through all legal avenues, find political solutions to come out of the created situation and protect the interests of society.”
On February 12, during a session of the Executive Council of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan severely criticized the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan, often times leveling personal insults against him. Sargsyan initiated several operations, including removing Tsarukyan from the National Security Council and potentially depriving him of his parliamentary seat in order to launch an investigation about reports of billions of drams in unpaid taxes. On February 13, Gagik Tsarukyan responded to Sargsyan’s challenge with his own statement and said that he would be demanding regime change and would make it his life’s work to ensure Sargsyan’s removal from the presidency.
Following interventions by billionaire Samvel Karapetyan from Moscow and mediation efforts by the ARF to ease the tense domestic situation and the war of words between Serzh Sargsyan and Gagik Tsarukyan, the two leaders met and arrived at a consensus, the details of which are unclear. It is equally unclear what concessions Tsarukyan received from the president for backing down from his intention of leading a movement for complete regime change.
Following the announcement by the Prosperous Armenia Party’s political council, Gagik Tsarukyan also issued a statement about the domestic situation in the country. Below is the text of that statement:
“Dear Compatriots,
As I have said many times before, our issue, including also mine, has always been to be of service to our people and to our country. To resolve the existing issues in Armenia, it is necessary for us not to war against one another, but rather to work calmly, without insulting one another, highlight all the existing problems, find solutions and implement them. It is only in this way that it will be possible to eradicate the situation we have before us today in the country.
I note with pain, that over the course of the past few days, processes in our country progressed in a completely different direction. This is a direction which will not lead us to goodness. It is not difficult to imagine what would happen if this continued. To continue in this way would not be in the interest of anyone, and in the first place of our people. It is not possible to continue in this manner, otherwise we will all blame ourselves.
I cherish the life and pride of every single one of our citizens. No objective can justify the shedding of even one person’s blood. It is neither the ruling regimes nor the oppositions issue to surpass the boundaries of reason. All the issues must be resolved peacefully, legally and through political avenues.”
