Levon Zurabyan: "Serzh Sargsyan will come to power once again, but will not be able to rule for a long time.’’

The third president of Armenia and the leader of the Karabakh separatists, Serzh Sargsyan who was the head of the republic for exactly 10 years, stepped down from the office today, and devolved power to his successor, the 4th president, Armen Sarkisyan. As expected, the parliament will propose his candidacy as a Prime Minister on April 17, and if Sargsyan is elected, he and his clan of the Azerbaijani territories occupants will continue to head the Republic of Armenia, at least until the next election season in 2022. Vestnik Kavkaza spoke with the deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress, Levon Zurabyan, about Sargsyan’s 10 years in power and why Armenian society, despite all the problems caused by the war party, does not want to change the leader.

- In your estimation, how has Armenia changed during 10 years under Serzh Sargsyan?

- We should estimate the objective statistics. The state debt increased from $ 1.5 billion to $ 7 billion during his reign. The population decreased by 400 thousand people - and this is due to the official information only. The rate of emigration has reached about 50 thousand citizens leaving Armenia every year not just for temporary earnings, but for good. The clan, mafia, and noncompetitive economy have only strengthened and intensified in these 10 years, squeezing out the typical competitive business. By 2018, Armenia has received an absolutely ineffective, corrupt government that will not last long.

- How do the political circles and ordinary citizens estimate Serge Sargsyan today?

- Taking into account all that happened in Armenia during 10 years of Serzh Sargsyan's rule, people can only treat him with a negative attitude, and this is a general attitude towards him. Of course, we should note that despite this the Republican Party of Armenia received high support during the parliamentary elections, but these elections were falsified completely.

- In this case, is it possible that Serzh Sargsyan, who Armenia does not tolerate, will not be able to occupy the new leading post of the republic's prime minister in a week?

- The question of his tern in the power has already been resolved. To this end, in 2015, he reformed the Constitution to keep his grip. Our political force, the "Armenian National Congress" headed the No! movement at that time, because it was obvious to us that the entire transition to the parliamentary system was done for the sole purpose of prolonging the rule of Serzh Sargsyan. We said this, we fought, mobilized the masses, won a referendum, which was obvious to everyone, but the results of the referendum were rigged once again. Then the same thing happened in the 2017 National Assembly elections - gross falsifications created a majority for the RPA. Yes, eight days, Sargsyan will not hold any posts, but this does not matter, he will come back to power on April 17.

- In your opinion, what are the reasons for the passivity of the civil society of Armenia, which is usually very active, in this story with the transfer of power to Serzh Sargsyan organized by himself?

- Mobilization of the people is possible during the serious political processes, such as referendums, elections, various force majeure circumstances. At the moment, nothing is observed. Of course, we must protest, and I am sure that many public organizations will take to the streets for the rallies, but there is hardly any serious political aggravation. Everything is clear for the future - we will continue to fight because such a government is a disaster for Armenia. Despite the fact that now the people are demoralized as a result of a falsified constitutional referendum and elections, this can not continue for long. At some point, the society should rise anyway, and we will work very actively on this.