Speaking in the northern town on Dilijan, Robert
Kocharian said that depending on the results of the 30 May
parliamentary elections, he will invite representatives of
the Miasnutyun bloc and the Dashnak Party to form a new
government, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 24 May. Most
observers believe those two groups will be the largest
factions within the new parliament. Kocharian stressed that
the next government must reflect the balance of political
forces within the parliament. He added the new cabinet should
pursue a more forceful economic policy rather than "engage in
empty debates." Kocharian had earlier expressed his support
for both Miasnutyun and the Dashnaks, and he suggested that
he is seeking to defuse tensions between them. He also denied
that the popularity of Miasnutyun's two leaders, Defense
Minister Vazgen Sargsian and former Armenian Communist Party
First Secretary Karen Demirchian, constitutes a threat to his
own position. LF