Oskanian, Ohanyan, and Hovhannisian form new election bloc

By The Armenian Weekly | Tuesday, 14 February 2017


YEREVAN (A.W.)—On Feb. 13, former Armenian Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Raffi Hovhannisian, along with former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, announced the formation of their new opposition alliance.

The opposition bloc—called the “Ohanyan, Hovhannisian, Oskanyan” alliance—will comprise Oskanian’s Unity Party (Hamakhmbum), Hovhannisian’s Heritage Party (Zharangutyun) as well as numerous smaller groups. The joint declaration that was signed by three of its top leaders calls for the formation of a “new type of government” in Armenia.

At the signing ceremony, Oskanian told reported that the current government is Armenia’s number one “obstacle” for its development. “We are convinced that with our joint efforts and with the help of our people, we will win,” said Oskanian.

“Today is a historic day in the modern history of Armenia… We are certain that the current illegitimate government is living its last days,” Hovhannisian said.

Hovhannisian made the final decision to join Oskanian and Ohanyan over the weekend following some strong objections from his fellow party members, reported RFE/RL’s Armenian service. Some of his senior party members have objected to this new alliance because both Ohanyan and Oskanian were involved in former President Robert Kocharyan’s 2008 crackdown of opposition protestors.

Member of Parliament for the Heritage Party Zaruhi Postanjyan, who opposed the alliance, announced her decision to not participate in the upcoming elections, Armenia’s News.am reported. At the time, Oskanian the country’s Foreign Affair Minister while Ohanyan served as the Chief of the Armenian Army’s General Staff.

Ohanyan stated that the main objective of their newly formed bloc is to form a government. The new alliance was to be joined by Victor Dallakian, who resigned as deputy chief of Serge Sarkisian’s staff in October, but his party withdrew earlier on Monday. Dallakian mentioned that he was excluded from the list of top ten election candidates.


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