Ruben Hakopyan and the Facebook post, in which he announced his resignation

YEREVAN—The leader of the parliamentary bloc of the Heritage Party, the opposition party founded by former foreign minister and presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian, announced that he was stepped down from his position and leaving the party.

Ruben Hakobyan, through a post on his Facebook page cited political differences with Hovannisian, who is the chairman of the Heritage Party.

“In recent times, my and Raffi Hovannisian’s approaches to foreign, domestic and internal party organizational matters have differed on principle, which has rendered ineffective our work as a team,” said Hakobyan in his Facebook post.

“I have immense respect for Raffi and do not wish that our political differences negatively impact the Heritage party, and especially Raffi Hovanissian’s political programs,” added Hakobyan who announced that he would leave the party and abandon his mandate as the chairman of the party’s parliamentary bloc.

The lawmaker went on to thank his colleagues and fellow members in the Heritage party.

A former member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, who held posts in the party’s Supreme Council of Armenia, Hakobyan served as Armenia’s Consul General to St. Petersburg, Russia. After the conclusion of his tour of duty, Hakopyan resigned from the ARF and joined the Heritage party, where he held leadership positions, until recently serving as the party’s parliamentary bloc president.