During a recent televised interview, Defense Minister of Armenia and president of the board of the Armenian Republican Party Serge Sargsyan rated the current political situation in Armenia as “calm with some action”.
“New parties entered the political field and made everything more active. I’m talking about the “Prosperous Armenia” party. This is a good thing. If you remember, new parties have always come into play before each election in Armenia and they force the rest to gather and unite as one. That’s the way it should be. I think that there is going to be more action as we get closer to the elections, but there won’t be tension. I’m certain that there won’t be tension because the authorities won’t get anything out of it,” said the Defense Minister.
The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia said that the reason that he joined the Armenian Republican Party was because the elections were comng up and he had only four options:
1. definitely stop participating in political developments “and say what the others say, claiming that “they have been working for the government for many years and 2007 will mark 14 years that they haven’t gone on vacation”.
“I won’t be modest; I would like to say that yes, I haven’t been on a vacation that I deserve because I have always participated in the significant events that have taken place in Armenia,” said Serge Sargsyan, adding that he couldn’t have picked the first option because “there is still much to do”.
According to Sargsyan, the 2nd option was for him to keep working at his post, not participate in the upcoming Armenian parliamentary elections, however think about running for president during the Armenian presidential elections. But in his opinion, one has to earn his right to participate in the presidential elections, so he didn’t choose this option either. Sargsyan says that the third option was for him to found a new party, participate in the elections with that party and then choose what role he has. He didn’t choose this either because, according to Sargsyan, that would lead to the split of the parties in the political field.
“I was left with the 4th option-become a member of one of the existing parties. There was no doubt in my mind that I should become a member of the Armenian Republican Party. I have worked with this party for many years,” says the current president of the Armenian Republican Party board. The board president says that “these people” don’t really care about their reputation.
“I think that’s the right way. The state activist can’t work for his reputation because he must do something and overcome any obstacles,” he said.
Let’s recall that during his interviews given to Armenian television channels, President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan had “accused” the Republican Party of doing the job and not presenting it well to the public.
“One of my friends told me that if we were to talk in terms of sport, in that case the Armenian Republican Party was like the “Real” soccer team of Madrid where there are many star players, but they can’t work as a team. I told him that I disagree. The Armenian Republican Party is more like the Armenian Chess team where there are both stars and good players. I’m certain that the Republican Party will reach the success that the Armenian chess team reached this year,” said the president of the Armenian Chess Federation Serge Sargsyan during his interview.
According to him, the people who say that the violations committed during the previous elections were done on purpose and that “everything was planned out by the authorities” are not right.
“I can assure you that no authority figure has ordered to falsify the elections or commit violations. Free and fair elections are necessary for everyone, especially the authorities. First and foremost, the free, fair and transparent elections are necessary for the president of Armenia . After all, the people of Armenia are going to think that the ones who are going to be responsible are the president and the authorities. But in reality, the government has nothing to do with the electoral commissions,” said Sargsyan.
Sargsyan said the following in response to as to whether or not he would run for president:
“We’ll see after the parliamentary elections and I will make a decision based on the results.” However, he also mentioned that it’s possible for him to run for president:
“I’m sure that I also have the right to join the struggle just like anyone else if I have the chance and the desire. It is stated in the Constitution of Armenia that I have the opportunity to participate in the presidential campaign. I have the right and I’m not going to give it up. We’ll see what happens after the parliamentary elections. We’ll start the competition with those who wish to start. But the difference between the others and I is that my post has never ended in itself. I have never strived for a post if I have had to deal with the interest of the homeland at the same time.”
