YEREVAN, MARCH 25, NOYAN TAPAN. By deciding not to run for the May 31 Council of Elders elections, the Zharangutiun (Heritage) party showed an exact political scientific approach, which will give the Armenian National Congress (ANC) a possibility to receive maximum votes. Zharangutiun party Board member Vardan Khachatrian stated at the March 25 press conference. In his words, from the very start Zharangutiun considered that taking part in the the election campaign by a common list with ANC will give a possibility to break regime's resistance. However, as V. Khachatrian added, when the negotiations with ANC gave no result, Zharangutiun decided to take an extreme step, to renounce its own participation in the elections for the opposition sector's votes not to be dispersed. In response to the question of whether Zharangutiun is going to cede to ANC the seats due to it in the electoral commissions, V. Khachatrian said that such a step is a nonsense from legal point of view. Meanwhile he assured that during the election campaign and on the day of elections Zharangutiun's representatives will cooperate with ANC. Asked whether Zharangutiun will take part in opposition's preelection campaign V. Khachatrian said that they will be always with the people. And Zharangutiun Spokesperson Hovsep Khurshudian, who was present at the press conference, said that the party has given its ordinary members a possibility to freely orient themselves in the issue of taking part in any gathering. Speaking about the estimations given to Zharangutiun in opposition newspapers some days ago, V. Khachatrian said that they treat "such a band language" with "fatherly generosity."

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