– You participated by the majority electoral system during the previous parliamentary elections. Why did you decide to be nominated by the proportional electoral system this time and be included in the proportional electoral list of the Armenian Republican Party?
– I have been elected by the majority electoral system five times. First I was elected in the Dilijan precinct, then four times in the precinct of Gavar. Unfortunately, there are people who think that I am elected in the same precinct every time. If before I had 5,000 voters, this became 44,000, and now I have nearly 56,000. That number has grown so much that it has grown out of the concept of being my birthplace, and now covers that entire region. I think that I have already proved that I can win running alone, against political parties, individuals, and well-known politicians, by the majority electoral system and come to parliament. I have solved that issue. Today the role and place of the National Assembly has grown so much that it plays a different role in the state authority administration system. The work at the National Assembly is becoming more like teamwork and the individual can not play a huge role in parliament. I thought for a long time about coming up with my own political platform and trying to implement it. In reality, that platform was going to be at the regional level, and it would have been practically impossible to reach serious results. Besides that, I am rather active in the international arena. When representatives of international organization ask me which party I belong to and I respond that I am non-partisan, they simply don’t understand how the longest-running deputy in active politics doesn’t belong to any party. I have been working with Armenian Republican Party representatives for nearly 15 years, and if I am the author of more than 100 laws, it is simply thanks to the support of the majority in parliament, especially the Republican Party. Politics is an art of possibilities, and as a result of the discussions with the Republican Party administration, I decided that it would be more correct if I join the team effort. Without doubt, I could have been elected by the majority electoral system this time, and this is also evident.
– You said that it is practically impossible to implement a regional project alone. What is the reason for that?
– All issues in parliament are solved by the consent of the majority. If you are one person, how can you have an impact on the majority? If you have a team, colleagues, then you can raise an issue and pass it. I must also say that besides working at the state level, I will remain the deputy of my Gavar region.
– Why did you decide to join the Armenian Republican Party?
– I was in the top part of the Republican Party list of candidates for one simple reason. First of all, after the classical Armenian political parties, the Republican Party is the longest-running party and secondly, I have worked with the party representatives for a long time. I find that the Republican Party is a modest party and is really unable to present all the work that it has done. The Republican Party never denies its shortcomings and errors that it has committed. The person who works makes errors, not the person who doesn’t. Our current society, however, knows very well that it is better to go to work than to talk.
– You have been included in the Republican Party list, but you did not become a member. Why did you decide to remain non-partisan?
– Before taking any step, I try to understand what the public will think. An active person like me must belong to a party, as it is rather hard to be non-partisan. I often joke by saying that I choose a political party once every century. I have been a member of one political party in the 20th century and in the 21st century; I must choose the kind of political party which I will never leave. The pre-election campaign started a year ago and during that time, as soon as I would try to enter a political party, that would be a reason to start speculation. When things are calmer, I will decide what to do with the political party membership issue.
– Does your nomination by the proportional electoral system presuppose that you are for the conduct of 100% proportional elections?
– I believe that the proportional electoral system must become 100% in Armenia. With that we will help political parties to finally develop and become a team and most importantly, try to move the tense struggle of the deputies nominated by the majority electoral system to the ideological field. How can I explain the fact that a party has developed, yet it doesn’t struggle for a 100% mandate? I don’t accept the fact that political parties don’t have trusted people who can supervise and ensure free elections and are already misinforming the public as to the reasons. That means that the given political party isn’t solid or well established. If you don’t have 2,000 people in your team, who can carry out this work during the elections, then you shouldn’t participate in this huge political process. What does the average citizen understand by an election that has the participation of more than 20 political parties? Perhaps this is positive in the sense of democracy, but it is going to be hard for the citizens to decide. After the elections, 15-16 parties are not going to come to parliament, and it is clear that they are going to try to move their underdevelopment to another level, which is bad for the country. I am happy that there are long-term observers, who with correct monitoring will show which political parties the people are following. If the political party goes to the village and nobody shows up, then no meeting takes place and thus, it has nothing to do.
– Oppositional parties, however, state that the pro-government parties are using their levers in order to secure a large number of people at the rallies.
– If a political party is pro-government, then it has to use its resources. Who said that power is served on a platter? There is equality on the field and if someone is a government employee, then he has to defend the government. If he is against the government, then he should get out of government. They don’t bring people to the rallies by beating them. They make an announcement and whoever wants to, goes. If people know that the given political party has done its job, then they have to follow that party regardless of its shortcomings. If you have a country where 29% of the people are poor, then you have many things to do. But if you compare with the previous path, it becomes clear that the government managed to exceed the 1 billion dram limit for the budget, raised the minimum wage by 20 times, tripled pensions and most importantly, is proposing a growing process. The current government is creating conditions for making investments, bringing in loans, and developing the economy.