Talking about the Armenian National Congress (ANC) in his speech made at the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) congress, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first President of the Republic of Armenia, stated: “The Armenian National Congress alliance, as such, doesn’t exist anymore; it isn’t there. The process of dissolution started a year ago. I don’t want to go into the reasons; all those who have left have their reasons…, but the fact is that it isn’t there, it doesn’t exist.” Do members of the ANC think so too? Grigor Harutyunyan, a member of the ANC and the secretary of the People’s Party of Armenia (PPA), said during a conversation with www.aravot.am regarding this question: “If parties leave an alliance; one can agree with that opinion. But it is not correct to say that the alliance doesn’t exist, since the alliance has worked during the past year, organized meetings, made decisions, taken actions.” We inquired whether L. Ter-Petrossian’s renaming the PANM the ANC would solve these problems. Our interlocutor replied: “What can it solve? The alliance can continue its work, being included in that party. Time will tell whether it will change anything or not. One cannot rule out anything in politics.” Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, a member of the ANC, also noted that the first President of the Republic of Armenia might mean something else and added: “Anyway, the ANC has had a very powerful impact on the political stage; it still is the longest-lasting, the strongest and the most mature opposition. Regardless of how many parts the ANC splits into, regardless of whether they say that it doesn’t exist as such or not, it remains. And I, as a member of the ANC, still feel like a member of the ANC today, since it is mature opposition, regardless of the fact that amebae and puppets of various colors try to present themselves as the most serious opposition on the political stage. The ANC will be back. The ANC will not be an alliance, but the political stage will unite this way or another,
and most probably, there will be a new presidential election.” G. Yeghiazaryan thinks that there are two unelected presidents on the political stage today – Stepan Demirchyan and Levon Ter-Petrossian. Talking about Raffi Hovhannisyan, the ANC member stated: “Raffi Hovhannisyan challenges this election. The election was rigged, but I cannot say anything about his being elected or not being elected. That is why I cannot say whether A. Ghukasyan won more votes than R. Hovhannisyan or the other way around. The demand for a new election is the task of all the people and the brilliant students who have risen up today. The camel’s back is surely broken. Look how our youth woke up from that sleep, that amorphous condition. They are sure to succeed.” As for the opposition’s consolidation around R. Hovhannisyan, Mr. Yeghiazaryan said: “No self-respecting man can rally to him, since that man hasn’t said anything so far except for criticizing oppositionists. He is not the leader who can consolidate forces, and we don’t even know what relations he really has with the government. For example, in order that we invited him to the podium, he went on a hunger strike and sat in Freedom Square during our rallies without any reason, political statement. The goal was to make us come and invite the hunger striker to the podium. Now he has done a more disgusting thing, which is a bit funny. On March 1, we are going to pay tribute to our dead friends, about which we stated a month ago, and he has applied to the mayor, saying that he wanted to pay tribute near the Myasnikyan Statue on that day at 5-7 p.m. The goal is to make us go to him. No ameba has the right to exploit the victims of the events of March 1 in pursuit of political goals.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
