– Mr. Demirchyan, society is of the opinion that the opposition doesn’t have anything to say to the people based on how passive it has been recently. Do you share that opinion? What do you think?
– Of course I don’t share that opinion. Elections and rumors show which opposition party no longer exists in the political field. In fact, there were even rumors during the 2003 elections. Just because the “Justice” alliance isn’t organizing any public meetings, it doesn’t mean that it’s out of the political field. Our political faction at the National Assembly is active, it presents its opinions on important issues and follows up on defense of human rights.
– But there are many that believe that if the opposition continues at this rate, the authorities will take advantage of the opportunity and make the opposition manipulative. They will simply pretend to establish democracy in the country.
– First and foremost, I wouldn’t say that the “Justice” alliance is passive. The people see which political party is fighting for injustice in the country and who is not. The present day authorities have tried everything they can to move the Armenian opposition out of the political field and make it manipulative. But as before, the authorities still aren’t successful in doing that. Even the fact that the authorities keep saying that the opposition has run out of resources, however, the truth is that the current opposition does not fit in with the authorities.
– One time, leader of the Armenian Democratic Union Vazgen Manukyan said that he believes that the Armenian opposition should be brutal. Do you hear a lot of comments about the opposition changing its behavior?
– Vazgen Manukyan doesn’t exactly mean military force when he says brutal. Whereas the present day authorities go along with the “either the authorities or nothing” slogan, we tend to differ. We have our resources, but the goals we are aiming for are as important as the resources. We are only in favor of solving matters peacefully and are certain that we can get somewhere like that. It is extremely important to start a revolution in the country and encourage the people to help democratize the nation. But it’s all up to the opposition to take the steps and organize the political struggle the right way.
– Don’t you think that the party leaders’ ambitions are the main obstacles for paving the path for a political struggle?
– No, I don’t think that ambitions are the main obstacles. The authorities are ready to do anything just to prolong their term. But you’re right, ambitions do stand in the way. First, let’s try to understand what we mean by a leader. I understand a candidate for a union, opposition leader in the parliament, but it’s unclear as to what the word opposition leader means in general, especially when we are dealing with many political parties. I have said over and over again that the leader must be elected rightfully and the people have to be the ones to choose. We must respect any decision that the people make.
– The authorities are getting ready for the 2007 parliamentary elections-they’re founding new political parties that have large financial resources and those resources will have a great impact on the electoral process. What are you going to do against that?
– We can’t circumvent this problem because it is getting worse. But it can’t become decisive. We are going to fight against that and I am certain that the people will stand up for its dignity, the future of the country, loyalty and justice.
– Has the Armenian Democratic party already decided how it’s going to take part in upcoming elections?
– The AD is ready to participate alone in the elections. As to whether it will participate alone or with alliances, that is still an uncertainty.
-Some people go against the opposition for not expressing opinions on the Karabagh conflict. The opposition had a good chance to express its opinions and take certain steps after the meeting in Rambulle and the recent announcement made by Robert Kocharyan, alas, it didn’t do anything.
– We have our opinions. The opposition believes that Karabagh should take part in the negotiations. It was wrong to exclude Karabagh and substitute it for Armenia, which happened in 1998. The positive opinions about that substitution are not very convincing. The Republic of Armenia should help Karabagh in securing the people, but not substitute as a negotiator. If you remember, I talked about that during the so-called “presidential debate” three years ago.
– In your opinion, how should the conflict be resolved? What do you suggest?
– Armenia obviously has to resolve the conflict peacefully, meaning the negotiations must continue. Karabagh has the right to be autonomous and the people have to stand up for their right. Sure, there must be some compromises made in order to resolve the conflict, but that doesn’t mean one-way compromises. Many are talking about the danger of restarting a war, but I think that it’s unrealistic to restart a war. First of all, Azerbaijan isn’t ready for a war and it won’t declare war based on the fact that it doesn’t want to stop getting financial aid. Secondly, the international community will go against the restart of a war.
– Mr. Demirchyan, as a member of the Armenian delegation in the European Council, what kind of reputation does Armenia have in the Council?
– The council doesn’t place difference between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Our reputation will be high if we solve our internal issues and if we truly establish democracy in the country, legally elect Armenian authorities, not pretend to vote.