For the first time since the establishment of the Free Democrats party the president of the party Khachatour Kokobelyan organized the first conference yesterday. Even though Kokobelyan and a number of other representatives of the party have given interviews, journalists were interested to ask their questions personally. Below are the main questions and answers raised during the press-conference:
– What new ideas and words can your party bring in the political life of the country?
– We are in politics as long as the second independent republic of Armenia exists. We have also been actively involved in the movement of 2008 and many people from our team were carrying that load on their shoulders. One of the reasons for establishment of the party is the fact that we believe liberalism has stepped back in our country. We, as liberals and democrats, came to the conclusion that there was a need to gather under one common roof. We can reach better results if we keep together. I don’t want to criticize the ANC because already there are many people who do that, but the fact is that we believe the ANC is not a liberal power anymore. The leaders of the ANC have announced that they are more social-democrats than liberals. First, their political wide spectrum is not understandable, which is introduced by many people as a privilege. Of course in order to solve specific problems, for example change of government, different powers with different streams may unite to reach their common goal.
– Is your conflict with the ANC concerning liberalism or there are other reasons as well?
– The main members of the party have had disagreements with the ANC concerning the methods of organizing, strategy and planning. Unfortunately we were not able to protect the votes entrusted to us by our voters and drive the victory till the end. No one can put the blame on others, including me. The biggest problem of Armenia is not the conflict we have with the ANC and there is no need to focus on it too much. I think that the ANC has a lot to do in politics.
– What do you mean by saying “driving the votes till the end”?
– The citizens of Armenia do their responsibility as citizens and give their votes to parties. I have always thought that it is not the voter’s problem to protect his/her vote. It is the primary goal of political powers to protect their votes. They should create a political environment that will not let the opponents escape from doing something. I am sure that we will be able to protect our votes. There are opinions that the electoral code is not good and this is one of the reasons that good elections are not organized. I think that from this point of view both the opposition and the government are implementing and imitation policy and they fail to offer adequate actions for the situation. I want to remind that in 1991 I was an active participant of the elections as well. At that time we did not have an electoral code. But there were rules of game and we used that chance and Armenia could make a right choice. Any good electoral code is the worst thing in the hand of bad implementers.
– What is your opinion about proportional and majoritarian systems of elections?
– We have said our opinion about that issue. We are for 100% proportional system of elections in Armenia, even though I don’t believe that it is possible to do that in the near future with the parliament. It would be good if we could do that, but I think we should not concentrate on that. As a rule, violations are mainly made during majoritarian elections. They establish headquarters in 41 and their appointed people are able to control the votes. Parties may say that they do not accept a criminal in their party but they may support him be elected during majoritarian elections. If it does not happen, I think it will be a little more difficult to make violations.
– Will you have candidates in majoritarian precincts?
– As the resources of all opposition powers are limited, I think the opposition must be smart enough not to endorse different candidates in different precincts. Even in case of ideological differences opposition powers must unite and endorse one candidate.
– Do you think there elections are a competition of ideologies or resources?
– Our goal is creation of a situation in Armenia, where the competition will be between ideologies mainly, and the society must be a participant of ideological competitions but not fight of resources. Without prejudice to any party, I have not seen any ideological difference between the three ruling parties. I have not seen any debates and discussions on the future of Armenia in the parliament or anywhere else. As a citizen of Armenia, for example, I am very interested to know what kind of Armenia the PA and RPA would like to see in 15 years. As liberals we will do our best to drive the processes in Armenia to an ideological competition. I am sure that we will succeed.
– Do you think there may be an attempt to violate the upcoming elections?
– I am not so naive to think that there will be no attempts to violate elections. I don’t either think that it will be possible to control those violations from the top down to the bottom. We have had many attempts to participate in elections and I believe that in case of active involvement if the opposition, non-governmental organization and other interested parties we can have minimum violations. It is also important that an election process is starting that will finish in 2013. Even more, there will be mayor’s elections after that, which is again very important.
– Have you raised those issues within the ANC?
– I don’t want to discover the issues of the inner kitchen. But I want to thank all my friends, with whom I worked and was involved in struggle. I am proud of the way I have passed. By the way, there have been many discussions about negotiations and debates. I have always been a supporter of debates, but not like the ones that happened. There must be an adequate time for negotiations. Let’s imagine that those would take place after elections, what would they change? Aren’t we sure that a lot of things would be changed? People start negotiations when they are strong. The society was more united following the elections rather than in six months or one year.
– Does your party negotiate with political powers other than the Heritage? For example, would you cooperate with the ARF?
– I think it is very important to cooperate with all interested powers, including those that have conflicts of interest but want to fairly struggle for the mentioned issues. But I don’t imagine an alliance with the ARF and I think they do not imagine it either. We are powers with different ideologies but it is not obstacle for cooperation, for example, in the sector of the justice system reforms and fair elections.
– How do you estimate the chances of your party?
– Very good, otherwise we would not be involved in politics. Our party involves people who are experienced in politics, competition, have been coordinators of electoral headquarters and knowhow to deal with them. I believe they are among the best people in political management in Armenia and their help will be much during the upcoming elections. We rely on the citizens who have hope for Armenia and do not emigrate, who want to live a good life in their own country and whose children want to come back after receiving education in Europe. This is our constituency and we are in permanent contact with them.
– What are the challenges of Armenia now?
– The economy is in a very poor condition and it must be liberated instead of speaking of virtual ideas. The other problem is emigration, which must be prevented not with songs and “come home” projects but real action and work. There are two reasons for emigration – lack of jobs and widespread injustice. Unfortunately I know people who are in good social condition but they leave from Armenia. They say the reason is the fact they don’t feel satisfied and protected here. Justice has pressed down everyone. Emigration is like an internal bleeding for Armenia. If it is not prevented as soon as possible, the country will become just a piece of land. This in case when we say that the biggest value and capital for Armenia is the human capital. As a liberal and head of a political power I also believe that the reason of the biggest problems in the country is the justice system. Many of our problems are a result of the justice system which is not fair.
– Are you going to participate in the elections separately or you may make an alliance, for example, with the Heritage party?
– I will not hide the fact that I have had meetings with Raffi Hovhannisyan. We think that the Heritage is a power that could be with the people in the recent times and protect them. I think we have ideological similarities and there are no issues that our interests are different about. We will give the answer to that question after the summit of our two parties in the near future. The summit will take place on March 2-10. There is a civic demand for cooperation and I think our two parties will be able to overcome the barrier of 5%.
– There are opinions that the Heritage party and your party are American projects as the US Embassy representatives have visited your office.
– Any political power in Armenia should work in a manner to be understandable for both the domestic people and international community. It is very bad that the work of a political power is not understandable for the local citizens and international community. From this prospective we are accepted and understandable for larger groups. I am very grateful and happy for the visit and cooperation of the US Embassy representatives. I think that any political power should try to cooperate not only with the American but European Embassies as well for the sake of Armenia.