Galust Sahakyan, who heads the parliamentary faction of the ruling Republican Party, can be described as the legislature’s cantankerous elder statesman, quick with a acerbic retort to questions posed by the press.

Sahakyan is also slated to get the nod for the position of the new parliamentary president, the seat being vacated when Hovik Abrahamyan got appointed prime minister. Right now he’s serving as the acting speaker.

When asked by reporters today if he would change his image and buy a couple of new suits if he were to be elected parliament president, Sahakyan joked, “I also have a ten year-old suit because I’m very picky when it comes to the clothes I wear. But I will change my demeanor. I’ll be even meaner and won’t even look at reporters.”

When this reporter asked Sahakyan if, after being elected speaker, he would continue to serve as the Republican Party’s parliamentary faction head, he replied, “Either way, I am also the party’s vice president and will participate in all the faction’s activities. But this doesn’t mean that I must necessarily bear the title of faction head. If I am elected I will not only be the president of the Republican Party faction but of the entire parliament.”

Sahakyan said that he would continue his predecessor’s policy to discuss matters of national import with the parliamentary opposition now known in Armenia as the quartet – ARF, Armenian National Congress (HAK), Prosperous Armenia and Heritage.