The
Minister of Coordination of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Operations
Hovik Abrahamian says.- The President of the Republic has ordered you to
follow the fair and legal elections of local self-governing. But it isn’t secret
that the same authorities not only rigged the elections in 2003 but nobody was
punished till today: Is this authority able to hold fair elections?- First
of all I don’t agree with you that the elections in 2003 were marred by irregularities.
Can you show any European country where some irregularities and omissions haven’t
been occurred? We must simply speak about the limit and the irregularities didn’t
leave any trace in the results of the elections in 2003. The President of the
country has ordered us to provide free and fair elections and we’ll do our best
to achieve it. People must have the opportunity to express their free will. Now
we are checking election lists, the police clean the election lists not allowing
any candidate to rig the elections. Every political power must use of propaganda
and all legal ways to produce its candidate but I guarantee that no candidate
will be able to use any administrative levers, which can have an influence on
the results of the elections.- But those levers were used during the elections
of the mayor of Ijevan and actually the representatives of the authority worked
for the current mayor.- I declare with all responsibility that no authority
lever has worked for the current mayor.- But the chairman of the council of
the Republican Party of Armenia, the Prime Minister Andranik Margarian didn’t
refuse that his leading party would elect the current mayor.- Every political
power has right to assist any candidate and I don’t see anything extraordinary
here. But if it is spoken about using authority levers for the current mayor then
no administrative resource has been used in Ijevan and there has been no need.
Every political power is free in its announcements.- The witnesses affirm
that the technology of shooting the ballots by mobile phones by the bribed voters
was experimented which will be used in the other elections of the local self-governing.-
I don’t know such facts. Just the opposite, as I was informed the other part has
declared after the elections that the elections passed fairly. So there is no
mean to find something that doesn’t exist. People have done their choice so it
mustn’t offend the choice of the people.- It is spoken about your appointment
as a super Minister for several months but there is no appointment yet. How is
that appointment important for you when you regulate a lot of spheres?- I
agree with you, I systemize all those spheres, which will be in the structure
of the forming Ministry. Yes the responsibility will be increased de jure but
de facto I have already had that responsibility.- Mr. Abrahamian it is spoken
about your appointment as the super Minister or even the Prime Minister when Andranik
Margarian is absent from the country. How is it ethical?- It must be obvious
for the professional journalist like you that those for whom my good relations
with the Prime Minister aren’t profitable speak about it. Simply some powers tried
to take an opportunity and to refer to me words that I haven’t say.- With
what proportion will the places be divided among the coalition powers during the
elections of self-governing held in October? It is obvious that no power will
yield its position for the others, each of them will try to get the major part.
Will the country be compromised in the result of this "fight"?-
We’ll do our best to prevent any problem among three powers of the coalition.
Practically it is possible if the parties come to an agreement that professionalism
and not belonging to the party works.- Don’t you see that the people don’t
trust in the authorities?- I don’t think so at all. There is some distrust,
indeed. People see how effective the authorities work nowadays. I can affirm it
because I have worked in the executive authority for a long time and remember
the constant debts of pensions and salaries to the people, which is now a forgotten
past. In what country do the conditions of the people improve at once?At least
there is a famous proverb: people who renounce any good done for them don’t have
future. I think that our people have future.Margaret Yesayan