"Premier Tigran Sargsyan's joining Republican Party was unexpected, as that's a political force which is becoming more and more similar to Soviet times' Communist Party," Head of Political Scientists' Union Hmayak Hovhannisyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

He characterized Premier's step as protection from ex-President Robert Kocharyan, considering that "his allies are doing their utmost to weaken Sargsyan's positions so as to return Kocharyan to big politics".

According to Hovhannisyan, responsibility for Prime Ministers' activities hereafter lies upon Republican Party.