ARF parliamentary faction leader Vahan Hovhannisyan, commenting on the U.S. State Department report focusing on the political situation in Armenia, stated that he believed the "political crisis" in the country had been overcome. "As always, the U.S. State Department report mixes apples and oranges. Yes, there are points in the report that can't be disputed; our presidential election process wasn't the best. But what is can be disputed is the claim that the political crisis in Armenia hasn't been overcome," said Mr. Hovhannisyan. Mr. Hovhannisyan said he couldn't understand why smaller nations had to suffer as a result of such reports. When asked if he thought that the ARF should demand that the government resign in light of the report, Mr. Hovhannisyan responded that talking tough with the regime isn't a self-serving objective. "We have an example of crude talk; on March 1, 2008 and the preceding days. I don't think that the regime is uncorrectable. We would take corresponding measures if we observed such a thing," Mr. Hovhannisyan said. The ARF official said he agreed with the call by Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan to form a basis of collaboration with Heritage. He added however that such cooperation between Armenian political parties is "problematic" since ambition plays a major role in such matters. He said that he has no such problem and that he is ready to take the first step. Mr. Hovhannisyan said that he didn't see any possibility of the ARF cooperating with Levon Ter-Petrosian's HAK alliance since it is set on being the dominant player in any political arrangement. He added that no right-minded citizen viewed HAK in a leadership role. The ARF, according to Mr. Hovhannisyan, would continue to collaborate with the current government coalition, especially on matters of pan-Armenian significance.