Serzh Sargsyan votes for 'sovereign and economically developed Armenia'

I have voted for a secure, sovereign and economically developed Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) for the sake of a powerful national army and the inviolability of our borders, third President Serzh Sargsyan said today, reaffirming his unchanged attitude to the idea over the past decades since independence.

“I made my choice 33 years ago, and my attitude hasn’t changed ever since,” the leader of I Have the Honor bloc told reporters after his voting this afternoon.

Asked to comment on the reported pressures against members of their political team, the former president pointed out to the law enforcers’ targeted crackdown on the opposition.

Sargsyan said they have been closely following the developments since morning to monitor the overall situation. “I think we will appear with an interim statement in the second half of the day until releasing our final statement shortly after the end of the voting,” he added.

Asked to comment on future cooperation with Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance, Sargsyan refrained from specific statements for now. “We’ll talk about it after the elections,” he promised.

Asked whether the second president has "forgiven" him for handing over power to Nikol Pashinyan, the incumbent prime minister, the leader of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) replied, “God and only God can forgive me, nobody else.”

As to former Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan’s move to endorse Kocharyan’s bid for today’s snap elections, the third president recommended addressing the question to Karapetyan himself. “Do you see anything tragic or illogical about all this?” he asked.

Asked what future he sees for Armenia in case of the incumbent's re-election, Sargsyan replied, “No future at all.”