“Did the government alone use force? The government didn’t need it at all. Why would the government need it, if it had won the majority in the election? The government needed it to do what, to besmirch the results of the election? Did the government need it to have additional difficulties?
“I think all of us are to blame for the tragedy that happened,” Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the Republic of Armenia, said about the events of March 1 during a conversation with Radio Liberty. www.aravot.am inquired of Lyudmila Sargsyan, an ANC MP, whether the ANC considered itself guilty of the events of March 1.
“If the opposition has its share of the blame, let the government tell what caused the deaths of 10 people. Let them solve the case. They have created an atmosphere of tension by rigging elections, by seizing power through a coup d’état. They were able to win the majority mentioned by the president not having it. Today even an ordinary citizen knows who had the majority in 2008, and it is very easy to talk post hoc. If they had had that majority, there would have been no need to prove it in any other way,” Ms. Sargsyan said during a conversation with us.
It is not clear for her what the President of the Republic of Armenia tries to achieve by sharing the blame for the events of March 1 with the opposition. “I don’t know what he tries to achieve, but in this case, Serzh Sargsyan shouldn’t have needed it. Not having any serious rival, the level of probability that he will be elected is very high, if he can ensure people’s activeness. The government is still to blame for the events of March 1, and in order to get rid of that blame, they try to share the blame with the opposition, other political forces. It is something that stems from the subconscious, using which Serzh Sargsyan tries to justify the 5 years of his presidency.”
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In response to our question whether Serzh Sargsyan had said, “You know what, when they say that there is no strong rival, there is no one who can win many votes, I don’t agree with that. Who said that Raffi Hovhannisyan, Hrant Bagratyan or Paruyr Hayrikyan who have made great contribution and have travelled a long road are weaker rivals or have less experience of debates or public speeches?” to create artificial rivalry, Ms. Sargsyan said: “The government shouldn’t have tried to destroy the real rivals, which it has done for roughly 5 years. Now, when he states that Bagratyan, Raffi, and
Hayrikyan are serious rivals, let me say that in 2008, Serzh Sargsyan didn’t state that Levon Ter-Petrossian was a serious rival… draw your own conclusions.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
