A member of ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) slammed recent attempts by certain NGOs and human right activists to criticize the army, thus weakening it.

“The army is among the greatest achievements of our independent state, being the strongest and the most efficient one in the region,” Hovhannes Sahakyan stated at the forum titled Summary of 2011 Political Results.

“Army mustn’t be criticized in pursuit of own goals, but rather as an attempt of a concerned person to achieve elimination of those troubling incidents,” the politician stressed.

The forum was organized by the National Press Club jointly with U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI).