Armenian oppositionist meets secretly with ex-FM

tert.am
14:48 – 16.12.12

The record of a secret conversation between a senior opposition MP,
Levon Zurabyan, and an ex-foreign minister of Armenia, Vartan
Oskanyan, has appeared on the Internet.

The footage posted on the video hosting site YouTube shows the two
politicians discuss tactical steps towards nominating a united
presidential candidate. No details as to the date and place of the
record are available, but the meeting apparently took place in a café.

Zurabyan, who is the head of the opposition Armenian National Congress
faction in parliament, explains the meaning of `alternative’ to the
ex-minster. `The alternative is to propose candidate to just ensure
our team’s work … You see if Levon [Ter-Petrosyan] is not any of them
… I say theoretically, receiving seven to ten percents is not a
disgrace,’ he says.

Two lawmakers of the opposition alliance, Nikol Pashinyan (the
editor-in-chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper who was jailed over
the March 2008 post-election unrest) and Hrant Bagratyan, a former
prime minister, were referred to as possible presidential runners at
the meeting.

Zurabyan then addressed other tactical issues. `The [Armenian
National] Congress managed to retain … say in a way that such deals
with the PAP are possible as it is tactics,’ he says, considering the
first president’s decision not stand as a candidate in the upcoming
election a major problem.