President has failed to make radical changes in Armenia, says analyst

During Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's three years in office it has, unfortunately, been impossible to form a new-quality authorities in Armenia, political analyst Suren Surenyants has said.

"The authorities are much the same as they used to be during Robert Kocharyan's term in office. Of course, there are some changes: the authorities have started to work more openly. But that doesn't allow us to speak about the new quality of the authorities," Surenyants said at a press conference today.

The ruling authorities have due to various initiatives been quite successful in minimizing the possibilities of early elections. The OSCE Summit in Astana has definitely made it clear that early elections are out of question, he added.

That does not, however, mean that the political crisis has been overcome and the consequences of the March 1 events eliminated.

"Simply, a situation has emerged when the probability of early elections is very low," Surenyants explained.

"Unfortunately, the consequences of the March 1 events have not been eliminated yet in Armenia, those giving instructions to open fire at the March 1 peaceful protesters have not been punished and nine political prisoners still remain in prison," Surenyants said.

According to him, this allows to say that for three years now the situation in Armenia has not undergone any significant changes.

"Therefore, it can be said that three years after the March 1 events the situation in the country has not changed radically," said Suren Surenyants.