“I didn’t vote openly. Is there anyone who can come here and tell me this? I have a good experience in the electoral field and I know how to vote. I would never do this kind of wrong thing, and I didn’t do it”, says member of “Rule of Law” Heghine Bisharyan, whom the opposition calls “the second bravest person in our country”. Actually by saying this she meant that Robert Kocharyan was wrong to vote openly, so she added: “But I think that even if someone votes openly this is not a sin yet”.
Interview with member of “Rule of Law” and NA Heghine Bisharyan
-.What do you think about the criticizing phrases regarding your party such as “populist”, “flattering”?
– I think the NA worked well in 2005. “Rule of Law” did a lot this year, and one of their main achievements was the deposit reimbursements. As for saying this kind of things about our party, we have adopted one aim to reach, and all our activities will be carried out in favor of the people. And if there are people who say these kinds of things, it is their problem. And at least if a problem is solved, for instance the problem of deposit reimbursements, people see this and if they appreciate it, this means that we did well.
– Republicans say that this issue was worked out by them, but not by “Rule of law”.
– To tell you frankly all powers took part in this and they all made efforts and assisted “Rule of Law”. “Rule of Law” couldn’t solve this problem alone, so they helped us, but one thing is clear: thousands of people applied to us to solve this problem and we did. And when people blame us in “populism”, I say that I wish everything were done in favor of people. People know everything and they know clearly who works and who doesn’t. I don’t think these kinds of announcements made by such a person are so important.
– Do you think that the same announcement made by your collagues from the coalition isn’t important either? What do you think about the announcement of Republican Armen Ashotyan that the recent speeches of representatives of “Rule of Law” on TV look like a “soap opera about flattering”?
– He doesn’t have a right to say such a thing because he still has to go far to understand what it means to be a serious political power and work with other powers. I think it is not good of him to say such things. I think people see and get informed about everything. I don’t want to interpret what ”someone” said. All the phone calls and letters that we periodically receive from people already prove that they appreciate our work and this is enough for us. I can even show you packs of letters to show how much we work. People see that we work and they have expectations from us. This is how we work, and we don’t care about what some people say.
– You say that you do your best to meet the needs of people and do everything in favor of the people, but A. Ashotyan says that recently Arthur Baghdasaryan told him that by speaking about referendum violations he made the PR of ”Rule of Law”. So this means your goal is not to do what people want.
– I don’t want to answer to this, because he didn’t expect to get an answer from a woman. I don’t want to create a dialogue between us, so I’ll not answer to this question. Very soon he will understand that it is not good of him to say such things. These are just ideas on private level. I mean there was a conflict between two politicians and these ideas were made just on a private level. But the problem is going to be solved soon. Usually there are a lot of announcements like this in the political field and it is not worthy to spend time on them. In other words I think that a person that is not experienced in politics shouldn’t speak or discuss these kinds of ideas.
– Robert Kocharyan and you voted openly on referendum day. And after the referendum some people said that there were two brave people in Armenia. Why did you vote openly?
– I feel pity to find out about such an announcement addressed to me. All my family members and I went to our polling station together, voted and then left the polling station together. I didn’t vote openly. I just ignored these announcements. I have great experience in electoral field and I know how to vote. I wouldn’t do such a wrong thing and I didn’t do it either. I think even if someone votes openly, this is not a sin yet. It would be better of them to be more attentive and be present at polling stations than to say such things. There is no sense to discuss these announcements that is why I ignored everything they said.
– How does it feel like to be a member of NA?
– It is very difficult. You have to be serious and attentive all the time. When I enter the school class after leaving the NA, I feel like I am in another world. The students give me energy to be more energetic in my work. I like it when I work and then people thank me. I feel very happy when people thank me. But there are people who are not serious and discuss small and senseless things.
– Do your students ask you any questions related to politics?
– My subject relates to politics too. My classes are interesting for them because we make oral analysis. We often have discussions in class and pretend to hold NA hearings. I mean I appoint the NA head, deputies and political powers there, so they can hold discussions. They like these mock hearings and wait for that moment impatiently.
-Doesn’t the opposition boycott the lessons?
– Of course. It happens sometimes. There are oppositionists too. During the referendum period there were children who spoke about why they didn’t want to vote for the Constitution. This is very important, we must make them revive their faith. And here we must work together, instead of making black PR.
– Don’t they blame you in being involved in the governmental power?
– They don’t blame me. I generally inform them about what kind of changes there are in the educational field and what kind of new legal provisions we have worked out. I think we must explain these things to them, because they are not informed about these changes. We usually bring up law provisions, but often people are not informed about these changes. My colleagues and pupils listen to me carefully and thank me for being with them. I think good targeted criticisms are not such a bad thing, and it doesn’t depend on who makes the criticisms.