Ashot Ghahramanyan, the governor of Armavir, denies that a process of massive Republicanization has started in the region. He denied the information of www.aravot.am that school and kindergarten teachers had been compelled to become members of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), “There is no compulsory attitude toward anyone at all, because if a person is compelled, what will be the consequences afterwards?” said the governor.
Opposing our observation that an opportunity was offered by that to guarantee votes for the party in the future, he said, “I don’t agree in any way that it can be done by that. On the contrary, one can completely change the attitude toward the party by that. Generally, those who have the conviction, admit the articles of association, who support the policy the given party pursues, whose ideas correspond to the ideas of the party usually become members of the party.”We inquired whether the governor, as a member of the RPA, perceived himself as he had described, “Yes, certainly. If I hadn’t perceived myself as such, I wouldn’t have been a member of the party for 17-18 years.”
In no. 21 electoral district of the region of Armavir, which includes region capital Armavir and the surrounding localities, Sedrak Hovhannisyan, a member of the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) executive committee and the former governor of Armavir, and Alexan Petrosyan (Alik of MAP), a National Assembly MP and a famous businessman nominated by the RPA, will participate in the parliamentary election through majoritarian representation to take place on May 6. The Armenian National Congress has made statements many times that their candidates for majoritarian representation are put under different kinds of pressure. Governor of Armavir Ashot Ghahramanyan responded to the observation of www.aravot.am that there was no such thing, “You can ask the former governor. Has the government put anyone under pressure in any way?”
We also inquired from the current governor what chances former governor Sedrak Hovhannisyan had, according to his assessment, “You know, I just think that the former governor has no chance to win,” said Ashot Ghahramanyan explaining, “Because our candidate is stronger.” The governor of Armavir has reached that conclusion given “the work he has done.” In response to a question of www.aravot.am whether he thought that the former governor hadn’t worked well, Ashot Ghahramanyan explained, “I don’t say that the former governor didn’t work well, I say that the candidate we have nominated has done serious work for the past years, has stood by villagers and has fully accepted their harvest. I am convinced that people appreciate that work too.”
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We observed that the RPA itself had talked about not letting nicknamed people and businessmen in the parliament before the election, whereas it had become obvious from the
nominations that such people were exactly on the RPA lists – in particular, in no. 18 electoral district, the RPA had nominated Arakel Movsisyan (Schmeiss), in no. 21 electoral district Alexan Petrosyan (Alik of MAP). Ashot Ghahramanyan responded, “They call him Alik of MAP so what? After he restored that fabric he has created workplaces, has fully accepted our villagers’, our farmers’ harvest. Is it a bad thing? Isn’t it beneficial for the nation? Or if he is Alik of MAP, is he a nicknamed man, has the person committed a crime? I don’t share that notion.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
