– Recently, there are more and more MPs leaving the “Justice” faction. Aren’t you worried about this?
– More and more people aren’t leaving the alliance. The alliance was founded based on nine political parties of which seven are presented at the National Assembly. Currently, seven parties participate in all that’s going on, besides Shavarsh Kocharyan, who has declared that he’s taking a temporary break from “Justice” and Aram Z. Sargsyan, who doesn’t even come to the parliament building. As for Victor Dallakyan and Tatul Manaseryan, who recently left the alliance, they gave their explanations. I don’t need to explain why Victor Dallakyan left; he already said that he was leaving and that he was grateful for being part of the alliance this whole time. There hasn’t been a personal reason or conflicts among members or the head of the alliance. Of course, it would be right to ask them why they left. Tatul Manaseryan tried to give reasons, but I don’t accept that. What does he mean? He has been working with “Justice” for the past four years and he has never made any complaints about the way we work. If there was any problem, he was supposed to be the first one to voice his opinion at the faction because he has always taken part in the discussions. He has no reason to say that “Justice” is passive.
– Hasn’t he ever complained about the alliance? Has he suggested holding meetings?
- Absolutely not. If Arshak Sadoyan were to do that, I would understand because Sadoyan often makes those kinds of suggestions. In fact, Stepan Demirchyan has a democratic approach to this and makes his suggestions based on democracy. We all make the decisions as one. Sometimes we approve Arshak Sadoyan’s suggestions, sometimes we don’t. There are some topics that the faction members just don’t agree with. For example, the suggestions for making amendments to the Armenian electoral code. I know that some faction members don’t approve the clause to have international observers during the elections so they won’t pressure the opposition, but we talk about that with all faction members and we come to terms on the decision.
– Hasn’t there been a time when Tatul Manaseryan has suggested holding meetings, “get rid of everything”, while Stepan Demirchyan has revolted and said that everything must be “according to the Constitution” and thus done way with Manaseryan’s strive to start a revolution?
– That’s out of the question. If anyone remembers something like that, then he or she can say that. Perhaps I don’t remember well. At least Tatul Manaseryan remember what that’s about. I don’t think that we should talk about things like that. The person joining the National Assembly being under the list of the “Justice” alliance can’t do something like that. Perhaps he had another reason for leaving. He can state his reason, but we won’t accept it. As for leaving the alliance, we have our opinions on that. I think that the alliance is a pre-election alliance, which exists for the time being and will not serve as a pre-election alliance after the National Assembly elections. In fact, it’s amazing to see this alliance go on for so long as a pre-election alliance because most of them have ceased to exist. Thank God “Justice” stuck around and I understand all that’s going on now. It’s quite possible that other processes will take place due to the fact that the parliament’s term is coming to an end and the “Justice” alliance won’t be presented during the next elections because each political party has its approach. Obviously each party will take its path. But the faction will continue until the end of its term.
– Are you also of the opinion that Tatul Manaseryan had to drop his deputy mandate after leaving the alliance, due to the fact that he had received that mandate by joining the alliance? I must recall that Tatul Manaseryan had said that he had earned his mandate because he has made his own investment in the alliance.
– Tatul Manaseryan entered the Armenian National Assembly as a member of the “Justice” alliance, as a matter of fact, he was presented by Stepan Demirchyan from the Armenian Democratic Party. Perhaps this was the reason why Ruzan Khachatryan expressed this opinion. From this point of view, Khachatryan doesn’t have a right to express that kind of opinion. It’s possible that a person can leave the alliance for other reasons too. He states the following in his statement: he is leaving “for other projects”. As far as I know, he wanted to work with international organizations and it appears that those organizations don’t want him to be a member of a political party. Perhaps that was the reason why he left. I can somewhat understand that and I don’t think there would be a need for him to drop his deputy mandate just because he’s leaving the alliance.
– What kind of political unit is the National Assembly? What does it have to do with all that? Does it join any faction or not?
– You’re right, the National Assembly is a political structure…but when it starts to complain about passivity and gives its ratings without doing anything for the alliance, that’s wrong.
– Now, are you in favor of Manaseryan dropping his mandate?
– I think that in times like these, if they leave for these purposes, then yes, they must drop the mandate.
– Many people complain about the passivity of the opposition, especially the “Justice” alliance and not only Tatul Manaseryan. So, this wasn’t anything new. Why did you accept it like that?
– Do you know why nobody understands what he said? If you’re worried, then stay and do something. If you’re worried that the alliance is passive, then make the suggestions and move forward. If you try and see that nothing works out, then you can draw your conclusion and express your opinions with other faction members. This is the right way. You can’t just go ahead and ask to leave without discussing with anyone and letting the faction members know beforehand. Is that how things should be done? That wasn’t even a statement, it was simply a letter stating why he wanted to leave. As for the others’ opinions, I must say that it’s “instilled” in people’s minds that being active means to hold meetings, organize demonstrations, etc. Do you know that meetings and demonstrations for no reason may have the opposite influence and may weaken the movement instead of strengthening it. So, the opposition can’t hold meetings every day, every week or every month. Today, the opposition is in the process of reformation as it gets ready for the upcoming elections and it’s clear that the political parties of Armenia are also getting ready. We see passivity among oppositionists, but that’s not the case; we have done a lot of things within the framework of the party.
– Why don’t you organize meetings? Aren’t there preconditions in Armenia for holding meetings every day, or do you simply think that you can’t communicate with the people due to the end of the summer and the beginning of poor weather?
– Of course there are preconditions, but the weather has nothing to do with it. I think that the politics is heated up in Armenia during any season. But there is relative passivity in the political life of Armenia in the summer. That’s traditionally the case. Can you imagine holding a meeting when it’s 40=42 degrees Celsius outside? Of course, this is not the reason; there are other preconditions for holding meetings and organizing demonstrations-the increase in phone bills for “ArmenTel”, the dollar-dram exchange rates…however, we are currently involved in holding conferences and sessions as we structure the alliance.