At a March 31 press conference PAP deputy Mikayel Melkumyan said that despite the number of politicians that have defected from the Prosperous Armenia Party, PAP is still the second most influential party in Armenia and has no need of political patrons.
The deputy is rather vexed by the talks that after PAP ex-leader Gagik Tsarukyan left politics, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan took PAP under his protection. "PAP is a political power that will keep acting independently and as opposition, thus such talks make no sense", he said.
He also said that PAP was no longer cooperating with "Heritage" party and Armenian National Congress. "If we ever have common interests, we are ready to cooperate not with these two only, but with all the political powers ", he said. Melkumyan said that all PAP members would keep working as they had used to before Tsarukyan had stepped down as the party leader.
To remind, at the March 5 congress of the PAP, Gagik Tsarukyan stepped down as the PAP chairman. Naira Zohrabyan, the PAP Faction Secretary, has become the PAP chairwoman. She has officially declared the party as opposition.