On April 28 the Armenian National Movement (ANM) made a decision to not participate in the pre-election campaign by the proportional electoral system. Some of the ANM candidates nominated by the majority electoral system have also announced to leave, and there are currently only two ANM candidates participating in the elections by a majority electoral system in the 1st and 4th precincts.
The Central Electoral Commission approved the decision of the party a couple of days ago. In its message dispersed on April 28, the Armenian National Movement states that “based on the created political situation in Armenia and taking into consideration that once again the existing authorities are doing everything possible to regenerate, which is full of unpredictable consequences for the country; being convinced from the start that the consolidation of the real opposition is the only way out of this situation and being certain that change of power will be impossible without the participation of a unified opposition, and considering the occupying of seats in the National Assembly as not ending in itself, the Armenian National Movement declares that it is stepping out of the electoral process by the proportional electoral list with the purpose of supporting the consolidation of the oppositional electorate”.
The political party calls on its members and sympathizers to actively participate in the elections and vote for the political parties for who change of power, liberalism, democracy and a realistic policy are prior issues.
A couple of members of the Armenian National Movement held a press conference on Monday, and president of the ANM administration Ararat Zurabyan assured that the ANM will participate in the political processes.
“We are not leaving the process. We are going to call on our partisans, our members and our sympathizers to cast their votes for the political parties that support the Armenian National Movement and its principles,” announced Zurabyan. According to him, the party hopes that there will be other political parties that will follow their example, giving the opportunity to one of the oppositional parties, and consolidate the votes to reach a more effective result.
“If the opposition doesn’t unite by May 2 (that is the last day for leaving-R.T.), it is going to be more large-scale after May 12,” said the Armenian National Movement administration president. According to member of the ANM administration nominated in the 4th precinct, Aram Manukyan, it was a “hard decision” to leave the elections.
“But we realize that the oppositional camp presented on television and in the political field is simply a joke. I took a look at the list again. Out of the 25 political parties, at least 20 are either real oppositionists or pretend to be oppositional. It is impossible to achieve victory and change power that way. The decision we made is simply a call to the real oppositional parties to reach a conclusion, follow us and leave on May 2. Why didn’t we make it more concrete? It is because we are certain that after us will follow the announcements of self-sacrificing parties for whom the ideology is above getting percentages,” announced Manukyan. According to him, during this time he has entered the homes of 2000 families and has talked individually with all of them.
“I assure you that it is very difficult for the people to choose between the real and the phony and it is very difficult to distribute the votes between the oppositionists because they are only a few. Why aren’t we taking our candidates out of the majority electoral system? It is because the platform planned beforehand according to which the oppositionists were supposed to be in one camp is being implemented-the oppositional parties are defending one person in the 1st, 4th and 5th precincts. There is no other real oppositionist candidate in my precinct,” said A. Manukyan.
Let us inform that besides the ANM, the “National Unity” and “Country of Law” parties have also nominated candidates in the 4th precinct. Only ANM member Hovhannes Igityan is competing with Republican Ruben Hayrapeytan in the 1st precinct, while Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Hayk Babukhanyan, Tatul Manaseryan and Republican Levon Sargsyan are nominated in the 5th precinct. Many oppositional parties are backing Hovhannes Hovhannisyan in this precinct. Aram Manukyan also mentioned on Monday that by going door-to-door, he has been convinced that “Prosperous Armenia” and the Republican Party both have 5% of the votes put together. He proposed those present at the conference to open the doors of any building and be convinced. With regards to the “Impeachment” alliance, which includes many ANM members in the proportional electoral list, A. Zurabyan said that the “Impeachment” alliance has gathered people who have centered one issue, that is, to change this system immediately.
“We absolutely agree with them, however there are certain small disagreements regarding tactical approaches, and each of us is participating separately,” said Zurabyan, adding that the members of their party are free to make their own decisions. Referring to former ANM members Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan, Zurabyan said that these two politicians who came to power in 1998 with the slogan “My party is the people” realized ten years later that the people can’t be a party and “started to privatize the party and get their hands on everything”.
“If it is going to be like a child’s development, then they will mature 18-20 years later and in another 10 years they will start to implement serious political activities. But our society doesn’t have that much time,” said Zurabyan.
Only Levon Ter-Petrosyan
According to another member, Hovhannes Igityan, the climax of the step taken by the Armenian National Movement will be the presidential elections.
“Don’t lose faith in the new parliament thinking that the mass with no ideology is going to form the majority. That will fall like a house of cards during honest presidential elections. We believe that today it is possible to start the process to lead to normal presidential elections in Armenia,” says Igityan. The ANM members don’t exclude that on May 12, the authorities will make such humiliating violations that the society will stand up and change this government.
“I would like to see normal elections on May 12 and for all of us to focus on the upcoming presidential elections as an electoral process and not a process of violence. The oppositional camp must be able to decide on and support one person as the presidential candidate who will instill hope in all of us and will unite us under the leadership of one person,” said Zurabyan. The latter believes that there are people in society who can lead the oppositional electorate and make it reach a change of power. According to president of the ANM administration, their political party must participate with one candidate in the presidential elections and must call on other oppositional political parties to unite under one candidate.
“I think and am convinced that only Levon Ter-Petrosyan can free Armenia and the Armenian society from Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan,” announced Zurabyan. Does Ter-Petrosyan agree? Zurabyan had this to say to that: “We have talked about that several times. I am sure that he agrees.”
Underlining that the candidate is very important, Igityan mentioned that it is also important to have a team which must unite under that candidate.