Stepan Safaryan: Why didn't you bring Karen Karapetyan earlier?

The newly appointed prime minister of Armenia, Karen Karapetyan, can solve all problems faced by the country, says Republican lawmaker Mkrtich Minasyan. “I have known him [Karen Karapetyan] for many years. Still in his youth, he had a different way of thinking. Later, he proved with his work that he is one of the best. I hope he can turn Armenia into Singapore,” the lawmaker said. Political analyst Stepan Safaryan is concerned that the authorities have decided to make changes ahead of the 2017 elections. “You have brought a prime minister, who, you claim, is aware of everything, will be able to address all problems in the country and turn Armenia into Singapore. Why didn’t you make the change earlier, if you were so sure of him?” Mr. Safaryan says he has never been a supporter of the former government. “I have never believed them. As for the new prime minister [Karen Karapetyan] I want to say that he cannot do anything relying only on his managerial skills. The rules of the game require radical changes. If you become prime minister, you need to understand that you have to fight, rather than say that you are not allowed to do this or that thing.” Speaking about the mistakes of the former prime minister [Hovik Abrahamyan] because of which he handed in his resignation, Mr. Minasyan said, “He [Abrahamyan] worked very effectively, but there were some shortcomings, therefore the change was made.”