Gorik Hakobyan, the director of the National Security Service (NSS) said about the problems regarding Vartan Oskanian’s Civilitas that an innocent man should shout, make a statement, but not keep silent like a guerrilla. In regard to this, www.aravot.am inquired of Razmik Zohrabyan, an RPA deputy chairman, whether he agreed with this assessment. He replied, “The investigation is in progress. I don’t want to stand between Gorik Hakobyan and Oskanian. There are problems. Gorik Hakobyan expressed his opinion.” In response to our question what Vartan Oskanian should do and if he had been Oskanian, what he would have done, he said, “Vartan Oskanian and all those citizens whose organizations are audited should submit all documentation, they will find out and that is it.” We asked to clarify whether there wasn’t a need for beating one’s breast, as Gorik Hakobyan thought, he said, “Beating one’s breast is not a political phenomenon. There is a place of beating one’s breast and one beats his breast there. Certainly, if I am not innocent, I should state about that. However, it seems that Vartan Oskanian has stated that he is not guilty.” In response to our observation that Mr. Oskanian had said that this was political persecution, the RPA deputy chairman said, “Let him say again, what is the problem?”
He assured that there was no pressure on the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and they were more cautious on that issue now, “They stated that they were an alternative force, a constructive force. Every wrong step can be perceived as pressure. We don’t want to do that. We say that the PAP is not in the coalition, but people at the lower level of the ministry work normally, because they are citizens-officials who have passed the civil service competition, which no one can touch. It is forbidden by the law – whether they are from the PAP or the Armenian National Congress (ANC), they have the right to work and they will work.”
In response to a question whether he didn’t think that the Republican Party was, so to say, caressing the PAP now until the presidential election and there would be serious pressure after the presidential election, Mr. Zohrabyan said, “I don’t understand what caressing is on the political stage. There are concrete relations and we act in line with them. In the framework of those relations, every political force has the right to state what it is, as it wants, at what pole of the multipolar political stage it is. It says that it is at this pole and it is neither an opposition nor an alternative force and such forces are needed for the National Assembly. In the end, let us not forget that the PAP has gotten weighty 30% of the popular vote, they are in the second place and certainly, the society will make demands on them too, they cast their votes for certain actions. And they make up their mind how they should behave in the society. The process runs normally, let us wait and see the developments, let us not guess!”
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Hripsime JEBEJYAN
