It is hard for Davit Harutyunyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Supreme Body and the chairman of the National Assembly state and legal affairs commission, to unequivocally say whether Armenian National Congress (ANC) leader Levon Ter-Petrossian’s decision not to announce his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election was right or wrong. “It depends on the viewpoint,” he replied to a question of www.aravot.am.
Let us remind that Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first President of the Republic of Armenia and the leader of the ANC, stated in an interview given to the Fourth Power, a daily newspaper, that he would not announce his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election.
We inquired whether it wouldn’t have been better, if the first president had been nominated, given the current political situation. Davit Harutyunyan said: “Perhaps, it would have been better for Armenia. Although, I think that the first president realizes his chances to win more clearly, and that was the reason for his decision not to announce his candidacy.”
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Generally, our interlocutor thinks that it is better for the country to have competitors in elections, who are known, rather than unknown. “However, I also understand Levon Ter-Petrossian’s step, which is caused by the current situation and the incumbent president’s rating.”
When asked whether Levon Ter-Petrossian had been afraid of Serzh Sargsyan’s “powerful image” created by members of the RPA, Davit Harutyunyan said: “I think the word ‘fear’ is not applicable to politicians, it is another matter how the person will go down in history, as a person who participated in an election and didn’t win, participated and say, won this much votes etc. These are issues related to the image, which are important for politicians.”
The ANC leader mentioned the age qualification as the main reason for his decision, “As far as I know, no one has raised the issue whether a person respecting his own people could aspire after the office of president at the age of sixty-eight yet. Such a thing usually doesn’t happen in democratic countries.” In response to our question whether that reason was grounded, Davit Harutyunyan said: “I think if it had been the only reason, Levon Ter-Petrossian would have made his decision public earlier. I don’t think his age has changed in the past few days. However, I consider what he says as one of the reasons, and I agree it might be one of the arguments for making the decision.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
