CANDIDATE FOR RA PRESIDENT VAHAN HOVHANNESIAN: WE ARE MORE DECISIVE THAN THOSE WHOSE CURSING WORDS YOU CAN FREQUENTLY HEAR FROM TV
V.H. "Naturally, we had been closely cooperating with president Kocharian not only in the internal issues but also in the issues of international importance, for instance in the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide that has passed from the moral level to the political, etc. But, the most important issue is that of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, where we knew his position, a position that had been agreed and though there had been slight differences in the details, i.e. in the approaches and the views of President Kocharian and RA Foreign Minister, those were mere details, as principally we had achieved mutual agreement. Such an agreement doesn't exist any longer, it may appear or not, as everything depends on the results of the presidential elections. In the end, it is quite obvious to us that the drawbacks that existed in the 90-ies aren't completely corrected till not. And this is the main reason why we have decided to nominate our own candidate for the presidential elections. A.M. "As for the drawbacks, which issues, in particular, are you going to pay attention to?"
V.H. "The main problems we have today are caused by corruption, by quite unwise application of liberalistic approaches, by the lack of any justice, by totally ignoring any social programs, by failing to appoint decent specialists to certain positions, problems that occurred in 90-ies but easily reached our times. If these problems were shaped and rooted in the circles of the All Armenian Movement, it doesn't mean that they can exist today, as well. These are the main problems that I should pay attention to in case I am elected the President. A.M. "According to the latest reports of the international structures, Armenia's indicator for the corruption has decreased."
V.H. "Yes, though they attempted to find some organizational solutions, we don't find them effective." A.M. "The authorities also speak about struggling the corruption, but till now we haven't witnessed any high-ranked corrupted official to face a trail in the court. May such things will happen, if you are elected the president?"
V.H. "Such developments are not only possible, but they will take place very soon. And not only those who will be corrupted in the future will be punished, but also those who are already corrupted will be punished. At least, the most obvious and notorious cases that we don't doubt about will be taken into consideration, many cases will be reconsidered. Beginning from the current conditions in the privatization deals to the obviously unfair court verdicts that we have been witnessing lately will be reconsidered. I mean that if we don't correct these mistakes, we may never guarantee that they may not happen in the future." A.M. "The court verdicts that are very often unfair make the people think that we live in a country where there can be no justice. Does ARF Dashnaktsiutiun have any mechanisms, tools in your programs that can help struggle the corruption in the judicial system?"
V.H. "We shouldn't talk of Dashnaktsiutian's mechanisms, we should talk of the tools in the president's hands, as a Dashnak belongs to everybody when elected a president, he is not the president for only Dashnaktsitiutiun party members. The president has powerful tools, for example, in the sphere you dwelt on there exists the Judiciary Council that should deal with a number of notorious cases of injustice and reconsider their consequences. A.M. "In the course of the recent few years, Dashnaktsitutiun had become a part of the authorities, wasn't that possible to settle those problems during that period?"
V.H. "No. The People are mistaken to think that participation in the government gives you the whole responsibility. We have never escaped our share of responsibility, a share we earned by means of the votes our electors gave us and thanks to our growing political influence. But one can never build a paradise in one sphere and leave the rest in rubbish. This is not possible, as the system of government, the whole state system is mutually linked and only system changes can result improvement in certain spheres. For example, they often ask me whether there is a corruption in the educational sphere or not, as the minister of education is an ARFD member. They forget about two factors, the first is that it is impossible to achieve an ideal state in one separate sphere. Secondly, the local administration bodies are responsible for the administrative and staff parts of the educational system, and the ministry only defines the main policy of the educational system. Perhaps, it was early to hand certain institutions of this or that system to the local administrative bodies, but the step has been taken and we should work on strengthening these local administration bodies. But, also these issues will be solved, in the case of system changes." A.M. "There is an opinion that the resistance being I increased between Serge Sargsian and Levon Ter-Petrosian strengthens a third party. Do you consider yourself that third party?"
V.H. "I don't consider myself. I am that very third party. But that would be wrong to think that the number of our voters grows as a result of confrontation of the artificially created poles. If people being disappointed of the propaganda of hatred from one side, and of anarchy from the other side, turn to us. And this is a natural phenomenon and not a result of artificial confrontation. A.M. "Heritage" party called for several of the opposition candidates to unite and you were among those candidates. Do you consider yourself an opposition candidate?"
V.H. "Yes, at present moment, yes, I am. Unfortunately, the concept of an opposition is distorted in our country. Such conditions are created, beginning from the very 90-ies, that an opposition is considered an enemy force fighting from beneath the barricades. They put the opposition in a position, in such conditions that they can do nothing but cursing, which helps the authorities to limit the abilities of the opposition to act. This is also a result of opposition's lack of determination, as the opposition shouldn't let the authorities put them in such conditions. But ARFD has learnt this lesson long ago and we act by concrete European civilized schemes. We don't have the issue of everyday power shift in our agenda in the period between the elections. Unfortunately, this issue was always in the agenda of the opposition. We, certainly, understand that the elections are the exact time for the power shift, and after the elections we should work. If I win, naturally, I shall cooperate with the republicans, as well as with the same "Heritage" party or any other force. If somebody else wins, our party will work again and we will not put ourselves in the position of offended ones or take any other extreme actions. Certainly, this depends on how the elections would be held, and this is even a more important issue than that concerning the winner of the elections. But I think that there have come the times of mutual trust and tolerant attitude towards each other, that's why we don't curse anyone in our pre-electoral campaign, as you see, this is not our style. We believe that the opposition should participate in the adoption of the most important decisions. Of course, between the elections you can cooperate with or struggle against certain political forces, but during the elections you are absolutely independent and your independence is reflected by your opposition position. Naturally, we are in that position today, but our opposition position differs from the generally accepted hysterical modus, that's why many people are surprised. But we are more decisive, than those whose curses you can frequently hear from TV." A.M. "Let's talk about those curses. During the elections, and very often from the team of the first president, we can frequently hear about the artificial confrontation of the residents of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Don't you think it's a very dangerous tendency for the development of Armenia?"
V.H. "This is dangerous not only from the viewpoint of Armenia's development. This is a blow directed at the comprehension of the benefits of our nation as a whole, a comprehension that serves as an engine of progress for our country. This is the main factor that turns our people into a nation. If we begin dividing the interests of our nation into those of the residents of Nagorno Karabakh and those of the residents of Armenia, the next step will be to confront the interest of the residents of Yerevan against those of the dwellers of Zangezour or of Shirak. And this will be the end of not only our nation but the end of our state." A.M. "What's your opinion concerning the issue of the liberated territories, as there are various opinions, some think we should give them back, the rest are against that."
V.H. "First of all, I want to emphasize that the issue of returning these territories doesn't exist neither for ARF Dashnaktsiutiun party, nor for me at all. And this is not conditioned by some sentimental reasons, such as that we had shed blood there, that's why we can't return them. That's not the point. The point is that in persons of RA President and RA Foreign Minister Armenia has stated for many times about its readiness to make mutual concessions, we did that, even a bit more than needed. At the same time, we never heard from Azerbaijan any correctly made statement about concession they want to make. They also say that they are ready to make mutual concessions, but in the very following sentence they say that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should be restored by all means, and the conversations stops at this point. I mean, we heard only about the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and about war as an alternative solution. If they make us face these two alternatives, I believe that Armenia shouldn't ever talk of the liberated territories. We have stated that we are ready to make mutual concessions, but the content of the concessions from our side can be discussed only if, Azerbaijan specifies about the limits of concession they are to make. They didn't do this, which means that this is an idle talk. A.M. "The pre-electoral campaign has started and you have visited the regions of Armenia. What is your impression about the moods of the people concerning the participation in the elections?
V.H. "There are certain factors that I am glad about. The number of active people seems to be growing, active people interested in our programs and suggestions, I mean. For example, there are over 150 thousand citizens who had signed an agreement with me. This action of ours is quite a success, and we approach the number of votes we have gained in the parliamentary elections and I am sure that we can double this number. This means that the interest for us grows. I don't know whether there will be big violations or not, I just know that the reproduction reserve of the authorities aren't mainly their programs implemented, unfortunately. But we can't deny that there had been certain positive changes made in our lives since the 90-ies, not in necessary tempos and directions, of course, but they exist.
On the other hand, the questions we have been asked and the interest that exists in the indoor or outdoor meetings with the electors testify to the fact that the interest for the participation in the elections is quite high in our society and, if, the elections are held normally, I believe I have quite big chances to be a success.
- Interview by Armen Manvelian, translated by K.A.
SENATOR CLINTON CALLS FOR PASSAGE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
2Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), a cosponsor of the Resolution (S. Res. 106), today urged Congress to adopt this critical human rights legislation, saying if elected president, she would ...CANDIDATE FOR RA PRESIDENT VAHAN HOVHANNESIAN: WE ARE MORE DECISIVE THAN THOSE WHOSE CURSING WORDS YOU CAN FREQUENTLY HEAR FROM TV
Interview by Armen Manvelian, translated by K.A.V.H. "Naturally, we had been closely cooperating with president Kocharian not only in the internal issues but also in the issues of international importance, for instance in the issue of the recognition ...NEITHER OPPOSITION, NOR AUTHORITIES ARE READY TO ADMIT DEFEAT
By Marieta Makarian, translated by L.H.On February 1, RA presidential candidate Arman Melikian was the quest of "Pastark" club. The candidate qualified the 13th day of the campaign as "rather correct". Mr. Melikian mentioned that the application ...
AMERICAN-ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN SEROB TER-POGHOSIAN RESPONDS TO THE CALL OF THE PRESIDENT
BUSINESSMAN SAMVEL KARAPETIAN READY TO INVEST 250 MLN USD
Translated by L.H.STATEMENT OF THE UNION OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA
Translated by L.H.ARA ABRAHAMIAN INCREASES HIS INVESTMENTS BY OTHER 150 MLN USD
Translated by L.H.ARMENIAN-TURKISH SECRET TALKS IN SWITZERLAND
ERDOGAN'S INSULTING WORDS ABOUT OBAMA MAY HAUNT TURKEY AFTER THE ELECTIONS
By Harut Sassounian, Publisher, The California CourierARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT DESECRATED ON HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION DAY
Special from Arthur Hagopian, Jerusalem
GALLUP PRESENTED NEW RESULTS
Translated by L.H.RETURN OF PETROSIAN, AN OPPORTUNITY?
Mehmet Yilmaz, ZamanSENATOR CLINTON CALLS FOR PASSAGE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
TURKEY TO ADDRESS THE HAGUE INTERNATIONAL COURT TO PROVE THE INCONSISTENCE OF THE "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS"
By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.WILL KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE INFLUENCE ON KARABAKH?
Translated by L.H.TURKEY IS DISAPPOINTED
Translated by L.H."ZAMAN" WONDERS IF TER-PETROSIAN'S RETURN MAY BECOME A NEW OPPORTUNITY
By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.ANCA ENDORSES OBAMA IN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
- 1540 Birth of Simeon Aparanetsi (historian). He died in 1614.
- 1877 Birth of Alexander Melikyan in Hadrut (Artsakh). This scientist, mathematician, and engineer designed and constructed Yerevan's water-mains system.
- 1879 Birth in Baku of Hovhannes Adamyan, engineer and inventor of colored television and visual telecommunications. He was born in a family of petroleum producers. In June 1970, the inventor's remains were transferred to the Komitas Municipality (Yerevan) Pantheon. He died in 1932 in Leningrad (Russia).
- 1960 Anastas Mikoyan, Deputy President of the USSR's Council of Ministers opened the Soviet Union's Exhibition in Havana (Cuba).
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