Hovhannes Igityan, a member of the PANM executive committee, said today that the PANM hadn’t made a final decision whether it would endorse Hrant Bagratyan or any other candidate or not. www.aravot.am inquired of him today whether the statement of the ANC that “endorsing any nominated candidate will contribute to legitimizing the regime” meant nothing to the Congress members. Sos Gimishyan has already stated that he will endorse Hrant Bagratyan, the PANM is still undecided; doesn’t this mean that the Congress takes no notice of Levon Ter-Petrossian? He replied: “I for one have been stressing both in the party and in the press for the past 5 years that parties shouldn’t lose face. Certainly, it is very hard to do. I realize Levon Ter-Petrossian’s charisma. I don’t think it is taking no notice, because every party ultimately is an independent body, it can make decisions for itself. It doesn’t mean taking no notice.”
We asked to clarify whether the ANC didn’t exist anymore, whether every party was separate, he replied: “No. It has nothing to do with the issue of the ANC’s existence. None of us gave the ANC the power to nominate or make decisions. We are an independent party, and we have a right to make our decisions.”
In response to our question whether they had taken offense at Levon Ter-Petrossian’s decision, because a movement had been started, there had been consolidation, the movement had grown and then they, so to say, “went home,” he said: “Why should I take offense at Levon Ter-Petrossian’s decision? He made a calculation and made that decision. He could make a wrong calculation. He could calculate incorrectly; everyone, including Levon Ter-Petrossian, me and anyone else, makes mistakes. However, he made that decision, and I, we should respect that decision and try to find the optimal way of our political struggle in the current situation.”
Hovhannes Igityan also said that in his opinion, there were two serious candidates whom one could endorse – Hrant Bagratyan and Raffi Hovhannisyan. “I don’t think that Hrant Bagratyan aims at legitimizing Serzh Sargsyan or this election or playing into his hands. He is the leader of his party, has something to say, has a program and tries to find his niche on the political stage.”
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