Sharmazanov in the footsteps of Serzh Sargsyan`s interview to Al Jazeera: It is tactless to speak of President`s plans after 2017 elections until election results are known

ArmInfo. Vice Speaker of the  Armenian Parliament, Spokesman for the Republican Party of Armenia  (RPA) comments on Serzh Sargsyan's interview to Al Jazeera,  specifically, on the part about the President's plans after  parliamentary elections of 2017.     

Sharmazanov has told ArmInfo that it is tactless to speak of the  President's plans after the elections of 2017 until the election  results are known. He thinks one can only speak about it if the RPA  gains tangible success at the upcoming elections - alone or together  with coalition partners. He stresses that the RPA's priority is to  hold democratic and transparent elections and to receive people's  vote of confidence. "We want these elections to be the best in the  history of the third Republic of Armenia. We would rather obtain 5%  less in votes than see the public questioning the election results,"  he says, noting that the situation will become more or less clear  after Serzh Sargsyan's speech at the RPA congress on November 26.         

The RPA Spokesman actually did not rule out the possibility that  Serzh Sargsyan may become the country's prime minister when his  presidential term expires.     

When commenting on Serzh Sargsyan's interview to Al Jazeera, Armen  Rustamyan, representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, did not  rule out such possibility either. He said that such a scenario is  quite acceptable.    

To recall, in an interview with Al Jazeera, Serzh Sargsyan refused to  confirm whether he intends to run for Prime Minister. Following the  constitutional reforms, Armenia has switched to the parliamentary  regime and the Prime Minister's post will become the key position in  the republic after 2018. "Although Sargsyan's final term as president  will shortly end, a controversial new constitution changing Armenia  from a presidential to a parliamentary democracy could in theory  enable him to prolong his grip on the country by becoming its first  prime minister, Al Jazeera says.  When asked, he refused to confirm  whether he intended to run for PM, saying: 'You know, I find it too  early for these conversations'.  

To note, in April 2014, when the Armenian president initiated the  process of constitutional reforms, he said that he would no more run  for President of Armenia. "If the draft constitutional reforms  implying the republic's transition to a parliamentary regime are  adopted, I will not intend to become the Prime Minister either".   Afterwards, Minister-Head of the Armenian Government's Staff David  Harutyunyan said that Serzh Sargsyan had told the Republican Party  that he was not planning to become the Parliament Speaker either.         

The draft constitutional reforms in Armenia were adopted in Dec 2015.   In April 2017, the republic will hold parliamentary elections, and in  May 2018 Serzh Sargsyan will step down as the country's president.