YEREVAN, MARCH 4, NOYAN TAPAN. According to Haroutiun Arakelian, the Chairman of the Ramkavar-Azatakan Party of Armenia (RAPA), the USD exchange rate should have been raised not at once but gradually. Saying this at the March 4 press conference he also stated that government's other mistake was directing the tax pointer to small and medium-sized business. "Our Prime Minister imagined he were Prime Minister of Switzerland," H. Arakelian said clarifying that the same strict approach can be used to all strata without exception only in such developed countries as Switzerland. According to him, the Prime Minister did not have courage to demand taxes from monopolists receiving superprofit. "In general, never hit a man when he is down, therefore I will not speak about the bankrupt Prime Minister," RAPA Chairman said. He also added that many people in Diaspora are surprised that the government head's post was entrusted to Tigran Sargsian. Speaking about RAPA's last congress, H. Arakelian called wrong the publications in press, according to which RAPA-Dashink-Liberal-Progressive Party of Armenia-National Rebirth parties' unification failed to take place. These wrong ideas, according to the speaker, emerged because the above mentioned forces' former leaders were not present at the congress. "However, one should understand that not individual political figures, but party members joined together," H. Arakelian said.

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