This is how journalists were trying to find out from leader of the “New Times” party from whom he would agree to take a bribe for his pre-election campaign during a press conference.
The thing is that A. Karapetyan didn’t hide the fact that he wouldn’t mind if he had some income from the side during the pre-election campaign. But Karapetyan is against getting help from Ara Abrahamyan, simply “because he’s Ara Abrahamyan”. The other two are out of the question because the “New Times” leader prefers to have someone from Armenia. In that case, perhaps he would prefer businessman Khachatur Sukiasyan or businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. It turned out that none of them are the right candidates either, especially Gagik Tsarukyan, who already has the money to spend on many other things. In any case, A. Karapetyan prefers spending his own money because he wants to become “an independent president”. During the press conference, Mr. Karapetyan said a few interesting things. For example, he advised journalists to get interested and find out if U.S. organizations have a program called “Heritage”, which foresees Defense Minister Serge Sarkisyan as the successor of current president Robert Kocharyan. It was also interesting to find out about the warning that has made its way down to American lawyers. It turns out that any Armenian that becomes a member of the “New Times” party can easily take refuge in the U.S. and have the right to live in the country. Touching upon the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia, Karapetyan said that it is necessary to try to create a situation so that there can be a change of power in Armenia. He thinks it’s possible to have normal elections this time. However, the current processes going on point in the other direction and that’s why Karapetyan is certain that in the end, the Central Electoral Commission is going to “figurate” the votes.
“That’s why it’s necessary to wait for the next day after each election in Armenia…the next day means the street, the disobedience of the people, actions,” mentioned A. Karapetyan, assuring that his party is getting ready for those actions.
Is Aram Karapetyan sure that the other political parties will back him up the day after the elections? According to the “New Times” leader, there may be a situation where any political party may take on the role of the leader. It doesn’t have to be him. “I’m not going after such things…I’ve never said that I’m the most important; on the contrary, I have always tried to be the secondary figure.”
As proof of what he said, A. Karapetyan pinpointed the Anti-criminal movement, where everyone participating is equal, recalling that the “New Times” party solves the problems concerning organization. However, having that said, he doesn’t think that the “New Times” party will be left alone the day after the elections. “I’m certain that many parties will be ready to get the people to struggle,” he said.
As for the murder cases of Armenians in Russia, according to Karapetyan, the murderers are not guided by the Russian authorities, but rather the criminal world, in fact, it’s not even clear whether it’s the Russian, Armenian or Russian-Armenian criminal world. But there is one thing that the “New Times” leader is sure of and that is that the guiding powers wish to get rid of the Armenians in Russia.
Karapetyan said that the Armenian authorities have found themselves in a labyrinth with the Karabakh conflict because if they sign any document, then the international community won’t care about them anymore; if they don’t sign, it still doesn’t matter. However, there are some issues that require solutions. For example, the “New Times” leader would like to know which country the Central Electoral Commission is going to be subject to if the status of Nagorno Karabakh is determined by a referendum. According to Karapetyan, there are more than 40 similar questions, but nobody hears the answers. “That’s why all we hear is that Kocharyan sat in a car, sat on an airplane and then came back to Armenia. He escaped.”
In the end, journalists found out another interesting thing. When Armenian government officials go to the Russian Federation to meet with different officials there, they find themselves in an uneasy situation when it comes time to talk about geopolitical issues outside of Armenia. Then the Russian officials tell A. Karapetyan about their impressions. They tell me, ‘Aram Karapetyan, as soon as they start talking about these kinds of issues, their eyes widen, they get frustrated and they all think about one thing: escape in order to not say anything.” And that form of conduct, according to Karapetyan, can be explained by the narrow-mindedness of Armenians.