“Depriving A1+ of airtime was the biggest mistake,” yesterday Samvel Farmanyan, a Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP, made this assessment during his speech in the National Assembly. Another RPA MP, Margarit Yesayan, expressed hope that A1+ will get a license and will return to broadcasting during this government’s term in office. Today www.aravot.am asked Ruben Hayrapetyan, the leader of the Heritage Party parliamentary group, in this regard whether we could assume from the stern assessments of the 2 RPA MPs that this government regretted about that serious sin of the former government and wanted to expiate the sins of the former government now, before the presidential election. In Ruben Hakobyan’s words, “Regret is not a political category. One can express regret with a toast; one can express regret with a speech. When a decision to return A1+ to broadcasting is made, I will understand that and will make my assessment. A decision must be made.”
Mr. Hakobyan informed that he was going to meet with the representatives of A1+ in the short-run and to find out at what stage this issue was, because he, along with a few MPs, intended to bring that issue to the National Assembly agenda, “Every one of us has an obligation to A1+, because at the time when the political stage was completely closed, they could shoot at an opposition party in broad daylight and avoid punishment, the only place, that small window where one could come and say to the people what was going on in the country, the only bold and normal place was A1+. And we are under obligation. It is not that it happened to us. The people were able to understand through it what was going on. Unfortunately, we, both the government and the opposition, were not able to carry out our
obligation to A1+ with a joint program. I am very happy now that A1+ is broadcasting on ArmNews. I am happy insofar as it can appear and say ‘here I am, folks.’”
In response to a question whether A1+ would be able to have as much freedom as it had had before, Ruben Hakobyan said, “You know what, times have changed. It is not completely its element. Perhaps, there is an issue of communication here, but it has found a path to communicate its message. Times have changed – in the past, they would shoot people dead in broad daylight and the response had to be adequate and very sharp. When I was a guest on A1+, I didn’t speak like I speak today, because my friend’s murder for political reasons was before my eyes.” In response to our question whether we had made progress in that sense, he said, “Time makes progress, because it is unimaginable that one will always be in the same condition. It is natural. On September 26, 1996, they threw an MP on the floor in that same meeting hall and were kicking him – say politicians like Paruyr Hayrikyan or Vazgen Manukyan – they hit him as if in the boxing ring, whereas today there is no such thing. Certainly, the parliament has become a bit more civilized. We shouldn’t say that it has come to its senses etc., but time has made certain corrections. Now they have been to Europe, come back or I don’t know what has happened to them, they have changed. The language and audience A1+ had or the guests in the studio were absolutely different at the time. After I saw my friend be murdered in broad daylight, naturally, my language and attitude had to be different.”
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Hripsime JEBEJYAN
