According to ruling Republican Party MP Rafik Petrosyan, "the authorities have nothing do due with the split within the ranks of the Heritage Party". He went on to say that it was due to the extended absences of Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan that the party failed to work as a united team. HAK (Armenian National Congress) board member Hovhannes Igityan also refuted rumours that the opposition alliance headed by former RoA President Levon Ter-Petrosyan had a hand in the Heritage Party split and added that he viewed Heritage as a true opposition political force. "For me, Heritage is comprised of those individuals who showed their true colors after the events of March 1, 2008, when they used their parliamentary mandate to effectively defend the rights of citizens. This is very important. Any political force can claim to be a part of the opposition and feign to be so, like the Rule of Law Party previously did. Today, the ARF also claims to be part of the opposition and points to its resistance to the Madrid Principles as proof. But one has to take actual bold steps to establish democratic institutions in Armenia to be considered an opposition force. This is how I regard the members of the Heritage Party," Mr. Igityan said.