Opposition to unite to win majority seats in parliament

Elections are and will be a kind of "harrow" for our society to stand on every five years unless people become sophisticated enough to face such tests, according to Armenia's ex-Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanyan.

The authorities are doing their best to ensure a majority of seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections, he told a news conference today.

"And they will do that at the expense of their coalition partners. The authorities are making every possible step to gain control of the entire electoral process," Mr Arzumanyan said.

The opposition, according to him, is preparing for the regular parliamentary elections due in 2012 and in order to win, they have to be united.

"The opposition should serve as a single window enabling people to voice their complaints. They just lack diplomacy to negotiate and join all their efforts," ex-Foreign Minister said, adding that the majority of society will support the opposition.

With regard to extraordinary presidential elections, the opposition activist said they are not normally held in post-Soviet countries unless there is a force majeure situation.

"Mr Ter-Petrosyan says the country is on the brink of collapse. Is there anything worse than that?"

Mr Zurabyan didn't rule out the possibility of having a new political force on the arena following the elections.

"Since the elections are sure to be falsified, there will be a necessity for such force," he said.