Raffi Hovannisyan was unaware of Nikol Pashinyan`s nomination?

Heritage party's leader, Raffi Hovhannisyan, has called upon the opposition forces to unite their efforts ahead of the May 6 parliamentary polls.

“Time has now arrived for all those who consider themselves oppositionists to gather together around one table. It is necessary to choose a comprehensive methodology that would ensure the presence of one candidate in each constituency. It is necessary to demonstrate consistency to attain a result through a comprehensive and tough debate,” he said at a news conference on Friday.

Hovhannisyan, who going to run for parliament as a single-mandate candidate, has turned out to have nominated himself in the same majority constituency as Nikol Pashinyan, the editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak. But he told reporters he was unaware of the fact when submitting his papers.

“When I nominated myself, I didn’t know there was another opposition candidate,” he said.

The Heritage leader denied the reports that the party had been following instructions.

“Instructions are being very widely discussed, but they too, comply with certain instructions. My instruction, if anyone has doubts, is dictated by my conscience, my belief and love. That’s all,” he said.

Hovhannisyan’s intention to stand for election became known yesterday night after the Central Election Commission (CEC) published the final list of candidates.