March 4, 2003 - 18:13 AMT
BURNING BRIDGES BETWEEN CURRENT AUTHORITIES AND OPPOSITION WOULD BE GREATEST MISTAKE, KOCHARIAN SAID
Cooperation of the current authorities with the opposition is possible only if both parties agree. Incumbent Armenian president Robert Kocharian said in the course of the TV debate with presidential contender, People Party leader Stepan Demirchian March 3 evening. In R.Kocharian's words, the developments during the electoral campaign give cause for doubting the opposition readiness to cooperate. At the same time, in the president's opinion, "some frames for interactions are present though." He noted that the opposition forces were represented in the parliament, in particular, cooperation was already established within the framework of the Strasbourg delegation and inter-parliamentary commissions. As of the executive authorities, in R.Kocharian's words, throughout the world it is formed depending on the correlation of forces in the parliament. "There is certainly a potential for cooperation within this framework and burning bridges would have been the greatest mistake," - the incumbent considers. At the same time he emphasized that one should not "be subject to romanticism and the limits of cooperation should be perceived in a realistic way."