Robert Kocharian: Armenia`s Third President Serzh Sargsyan should not have tried to preserve power

ArmInfo. The third president of  Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, should not have made attempts to retain  power, having resettled in the prime minister's chair. This opinion  was expressed by the ex-President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan,  accused of overthrowing the constitutional order, in an exclusive  interview with NTV, analyzing the reasons for the velvet revolution  in Armenia.

According to him, Serzh Sargsyan should not have carried out  constitutional reforms: "I then publicly criticized this reform, and,  of course, he should not have made attempts to retain power by  resettling in the prime minister's chair."

Touching upon the remarks of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan that the second president has no chance to return to  politics, Kocharian noted: "I have already returned. I was President  of Armenia for 10 years. During these 10 years, Armenia's GDP grew  five-fold: the budget grew eight-fold. Everything that you see in  Yerevan is interesting, reconstructed, everything was built in those  years. You know, we created 35-40 thousand jobs every year. The share  of small and medium-sized businesses increased from 15% at the  beginning of my presidency to 46%. The share of the private sector in  GDP reached 80 percent.  The quality of life has changed radically.  And we need to remind about this. I have been out of politics for 10  years, perhaps not all people remember this. We will recall this. And  I think these people who participated in this whole process - they  created businesses and raised the economy - they will become the same  electoral base. "

When asked by his party or coalition, Kocharyan intends to act as an  opposition, the second president of Armenia noted: "I left the  question fairly open. I understand that I can become a very serious  consolidating center for those people who see today's problems. "