“We have never allowed ourselves to make assumptions whether the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) made one-man or team decisions, have we?” an Armenian National Congress (ANC) MP Says to ARF MPs
The ANC discussed the ways of its participation in the presidential election during a political council meeting yesterday. They didn’t reach any agreement; discussions are still in progress. However, an ANC parliamentary group member, Lyudmilla Sargsyan, assured during a conversation with Aravot, “All the forces that have remained in the ANC unequivocally support the Congress, and the ANC will always be viable, although the situation has changed.” In response to an observation that another member of the ANC, Mikayel Hayrapetyan’s Conservative Party, had withdrawn from the ANC, Ms. Sargsyan said: “That party had just been registered in the ANC, but you know quite well yourself that it hadn’t been engaged in any activity in the ANC for a long time. Therefore, the loss will not be great. As for Hrant Bagratyan, I have already expressed my opinion; I am sorry that he had made that decision before the president’s decision.” However, we have what we have. According to our interlocutor, “We are very decisive. The ANC should be refreshed with new thoughts, put forward new ideas. Realizing what a great role the ANC plays in Armenian political life, we will do whatever it takes to make the ANC stronger, more powerful and not only maintain its role, but also make it greater. I saw that decisiveness in all the parties that are members of the political council, and I am more than convinced that we will carry all that out. If there is no ANC, our political stage and thought will be poorer.” Moreover, according to Ms. Sargsyan, the fact that Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first president and the leader of the ANC, stated about not announcing his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election doesn’t mean at all that he will not be the ANC leader from now on, and it doesn’t mean that he is going to leave politics, “I am more than convinced that his presence will be visible every day, because Levon Ter-Petrossian’s sense of responsibility for our country and our people will never disappear.”
A political unit that consolidated a big part of the political stage and society only five years ago cannot clarify its further actions today, in the run-up to the presidential election. In response to our question what role should the ANC and the first president play in the future political developments, in her opinion, Ms. Sargsyan said that it was too early to talk about it, since the programs were still being devised and discussed. “The reason why we don’t participate in the presidential election is that there are no real mechanisms to win a victory as a result of that participation. The reason is not a lack of supporters, but the fact that the Electoral Code is much distorted, and the administrative, financial and criminal oligarchic leverage is in the government’s hands; it makes impossible for any serious force to participate in the election. As you have seen, the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), as well as the ANC and the ARF, refused to participate in the presidential election. Basically the second, third and fourth biggest parliamentary groups refused,” our interlocutor affirms, adding that if the government had been inclined to conduct a really fair and transparent election, it wouldn’t have disrupted the reform of the Electoral Code initiated by the ANC and joined by non-coalition forces. “We became convinced once again that the government was not ready for fair elections, therefore it leaves us with no other choice than to wish good luck to Serzh Sargsyan in his lonely activities in the uncompetitive presidential election,” L. Sargsyan says, predicting that a rather passive presidential election, which the government will try to compensate by moving people from one place to another and ensuring their voting, is expected. According to her, our people, who may not get the expected bribes in yet another election, have “suffered” from all this.
We noted that the ANC leader hadn’t talked about other reasons for his decision, except for stressing the age qualification. Ms. Sargsyan said that if the president had made such an emphasis, probably, he had had reasons to do so.
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In response to our question whether the fact that two opposition forces in the parliament and the second biggest force in the parliament that had declared itself an alternative refused to participate in such an important event as a presidential election didn’t imply backstage agreements, the ANC MP said: “I can say with regard to us that there could have been no agreement. It is not logical that Levon Ter-Petrossian cut a deal with someone not to announce his candidacy. I don’t rule out anything with regard to other forces. The ANC never cuts such deals, especially, with the government, particularly given the fact that we had our competitive candidate, who really could have challenged the regime, if there had been a respective situation in the country, the people had overcome that difficult moral and psychological condition and had been ready to fight to the finish. There were no prerequisites; therefore, it was obvious that the regime would ensure Sargsyan’s reproduction. A serious political force has no right to participate in such a farce.” Ms. Sargsyan thinks that on the one hand, this situation is “very good” for the incumbent president, he has great chances to be “reelected,” but on the other hand, he is in a rather difficult situation, since he has no rival, “The fact that electoral mechanisms are destroyed will be visible also to the international community, and Sargsyan’s position will weaken.”
Yesterday ARF representatives described the ANC leader’s decision as a “one-man” decision and didn’t deem it normal. Lyudmila Sargsyan said that in the ANC, they weren’t guided by the principle whether the ARF would like it or not. “Making a decision on his nomination was first of all Levon Ter-Petrossian’s right, because he was the one who would enter that struggle. And it is normal. So what? If Armen Rustamyan, for one, decided that he didn’t want to participate in the presidential election, would the Bureau force him? I think not. It was a personal decision, which the party might or might not like. Yes, we wanted Levon Ter-Petrossian to announce his candidacy, but none of us gave himself a moral right to force Ter-Petrossian. Regardless of our wishes, I am convinced that Ter-Petrossian made the right decision. We have never allowed ourselves to make assumptions whether the ARF made one-man or team decisions, have we? It is their internal issue in the same way as this is our internal issue.” Ms. Sargsyan doesn’t agree that the ANC leader’s decision will confuse the parents of the March 1 victims. She is sure that they will get the ANC leader right too, “All of us took that decision hard at first, but then we realized that he had calculated everything. I am sure that the parents of the March 1 victims will get him right and understand all that. The events of March 1 will always be on the ANC agenda, and we will try to uncover those events as soon as possible.” L. Sargsyan hopes that the government will keep its promise after the presidential election, and it will be possible to shed light on those events within the framework of a parliamentary commission to be formed.
NELLY GRIGORYAN
