Despite the fact that Hmayak Hovhannisyan did not succeed in discussing
the return of the deposits at the National Assembly, it was possible to
bring the opposition (who had boycotted the National Assembly sessions)
to the National Assembly. It took a while for the coalition to succeed
in doing this. All the members of the “Azgayin Miabanutyun” (National
Unity NU) were registered to participate in the December 20 session of
the National Assembly.
“168 hours”: “Mr. Geghamyan, you are always in the public eye due to
your analyses. In your opinion, who benefited from this discussion
regarding the return of deposits?”
Artashes Geghamyan: Officially, the second political figure of
Armenia-Artur Baghdasaryan, took the initiative and the opposition
defended it at the National Assembly. As a result, one of the political
parties, which is a member of the coalition, along with its leader (the
President of the National Assembly), was not able to organize such an
important session. The people who are the most concerned about this are
the ones who want to put down the reputation of the President of the
National Assembly. It is clear that the opposition was not after that,
instead, it supported the President. If it is not the opposition, then
it is the political parties of the coalition. The other side of the
story goes as follows: the Hayastani Hanrapetakan Kusaktsutyun
(Armenian Republic Political Party), which used to go with the idea
that they are the majority in the National Assembly and they have the
power to put any issue up for discussion and pass any bill, made the
other deputies understand that even the independent deputy that doesn’t
have the least influence can collect enough signatures for organizing a
session. That goes against the Armenian Republic Political Party. When
the above mentioned was discussed, President of Armenia Robert
Kocharyan proved the coalition yet again (in particular the Orinats
Yerkir (Lawful Land) and Hayastani Hanrapetakan political parties) who
really is the one who decides which issue is put up for discussion or
not.”At the same time, they put some pressure on the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation. No matter how much the federation goes
against the compensation of 1000 rubles compared to 30 dollars. If you
are against 30, make it 130. The federalists, however, are forced to
give some explanations and reasons for their orientation. Another key
factor here is the fact that the authorities not only wish to give a
negative solution to the problem, but also, they don’t tolerate
dissidents. I asked the “Kentron” TV network and the “National Assembly
Week” program to let me talk for 30 minutes. I asked for them to let me
point out the sources with which we can solve this problem without
thinking about the budget. Unfortunately, they don’t agree with that
either. You come to the conclusion that the authorities have always
been and will continue to be indifferent to the interests of the
people. They should have aired the program and the people would be
informed of what is populism, and what is the practicality. This is
also ignored, which means that the more the people suffer, the more the
authorities benefit. The people have many wants and needs because of
them. If they think this is their victory, I must say that that is a
fake victory because in 2005, whether they like it or not, there are
many dangers facing Armenia. A people whose wants and needs are not
fulfilled will not be able to resist all the difficulties.”
168 hours: “Robert Kocharyan made an announcement at the Lori region
that this initiative was not taken by Hmayak Hovhannisyan. He claims
that there is some secret force and the deputies must be “reasonable”
and not let anyone falter the path taken to solve the problem. Can we
predict that Robert Kocharyan took the initiative? In your opinion, who
is the person responsible?”
Artashes Geghamyan: “Generally, presidents think about one thing, say
the other and do the opposite. Robert Kocharyan reached his goal-he
showed the little space that the coalition has on the political field.
The rest just shows the cunning side, nothing more. There are certain
people among the ones that sign who, in case of need, call the
president and ask if they can put their plan to action or not.
168 hours: “There were many tries to bring the opposition to the
National Assembly, however, we must admit the fact that Hmayak
Hovhannisyan managed to solve the issue concerning the return of
deposits. Why did you decide to take part in this farce and stopped
boycotting?”
Artashes Geghamyan: “Some people like to call this a farce. After all,
any Armenian might say the following after all these discussions: why
are the authorities treating the people this way? As a result of the
discussions, billion dram reserves would come into the light, which
would be included in the income without paying anything and we would be
able to take care of the expenses that exist today. As for bringing the
opposition to the National Assembly, we are not items to be brought.
What brought us to the National Assembly was our remorse and the
responsibility that we have to serve the 2,200,000 million people
living in the country. This is something that concerns us more than
organizing elections. The coalition failed by showing the opposition
that it fears open discussions. If they are afraid, then that means
they realize that they have found themselves in a “confused” situation.
They also realize that the money is still there, but they can not bring
it into the budget because the money is wasted by the same people who
are the supporting columns of the coalition. Perhaps we can exclude
Orinats Yerkir (Lawful Land) which took part in providing the quorum.
Thus, it turns out that today the people ordering music are the
oligarchs because the money which was intended to include in the
budget, must belong to them.”