Yesterday the former foreign affairs minister of Armenia Alexander Arzumanyan dismissed press reports that he was at variance with Armenian National Congress Leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan. “I have no disagreements with anyone. If I had any, I would say it openly, as I used to do during the 50 years of my life experience," he said as a response to the question of one of the journalists, who asked whether it’s true that Arzumanyan has certain conflicts with Ter-Petrosyan. In fact the problem is not the contradiction with Ter-Petrosyan but at least the indirect criticism of at least the past year, which Arzumanyan was addressing to the ANC. And this was most clearly demonstrated last July after the famous events of the ANM when the former affairs minister said that the ANM had betrayed its own principles and values. During the past months with certain reservations indeed was scornfully speaking about the ANC by not disguising his discontent of the passiveness of the Congress. For example, last September the opposition was speaking of another “mighty” rally, by creating mystery around the speech of Ter-Petrosyan. The reporters asked Arzumanyan whether he was expecting any surprises from the speech of the leader of the Congress. “The surprise would be if Ter-Pterosyan stated that China is the inseparable part of Armenia,” with an evident scorn mentioned Arzumanyan. “Every week we are going to a rally. And it had become a big routine for all of us. I am sure that if elections are held these people will come to vote and they will back us up at decisive moments. They say the next rally will be mighty and decisive. This is tautology. I strongly believe so. I’m sorry. There should be a plan and a project and someone who should implement that. It would be great if the Congress was able to find this person, who’d be able to implement reforms and changes and someone who’d have a clear message and a platform. If this person is not found then they will find other ways. I am tired of all that. The world is developing,” in his September press conference stated Arzumanyan in the meantime expressing skepticism about the claims of the ANC to hold extraordinary elections. As it’s known the ANC functions under the unilateral control of Ter-Petrosyan and we think that the abovementioned statements of the former foreign affairs minister would have created controversy with Ter-Petrosyan’s policies. It is another question whether Arzumanyan has changed his attitude in relation to various matters. Nonetheless, yesterday Arzumanyan didn’t agree with the viewpoint of one of the journalists by which his political activity compared to other politicians within the ANC (e.g. chair of the ANM Aram Manukyan), has become passive. “What is political passiveness? There was no single day that I’d miss the pickets in front of the Prosecutor-General’s office after I was released from prison. Perhaps Aram and some others have missed those several times,” he said. Arzumanyan also spoke about the events taking place in Egypt. Arzumanyan, dwelling on the events in Egypt, said that the slogan “bread, dignity, freedom” can work in Armenia too. According to Arzumanyan, these issues are urgent in Armenia to which one day can turn into ire. As for the leader, Arzumanyan noted that people are able to self-organize. He compared the leaderships of Armenia and Egypt saying that if dictators, who have reigned for 32 years, are thrown away, the problem of a smaller dictator will be easier to solve. If OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs were discontent with the re-formation of the PACE Subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh, they should have voiced their concerns at PACE and hinder the re-establishment of the subcommittee, Arzumanyan said. The oppositionist welcomes army’s non-interference with the events, saying Egypt plays a major role in the region and the developments will affect the whole Arab world. “In case Egypt chooses way of evolution, democracy it may become accelerator for such countries as Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. No one can rule out the possibility a free Kurdistan may be established after these events,” he concluded. He stated that currently they speak a lot whether we have a national leader in Armenia. However, he believes that the events in Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt proved that when the people become outrageous the existence of the leader becomes not that important. He mentioned that the only leader of the Armenian opposition is Levon Ter-Petrosyan. “There is a leader in Armenia and his reputation and weight are never put in doubt,” he said.
