And so Vazgen Manukyan wishes to change the model of Armenia. He is not interested in the ratings of politicians. The important thing is to change the model. It’s interesting to know what model the incumbent government is going to apply to win the upcoming elections. It’s not a secret for anyone perhaps. In order to have victory the government has to make sure that each opposition leader says he’s going to run on his won and that only they understand with model Armenia needs for development. Thus, the fact that Vazgen Manukyan and others speak about “models” it ensures that none of the models ever comes true.
The upcoming presidential elections 2008 are planned for February, which is the 5th presidential election during the history of the 3rd republic.
Vazgen Manukyan has participated in almost all the presidential elections (except for 1991), however he gets fewer votes after each elections. If in 1996 he gained 42% then in 2003 he gained less than 1% of votes. Yesterday at Pastark Club the NDU chairman he is not interested in ratings. “I think there are more important issues than who the president will be,” Manukyan says. According to him, it is more important to replace the model created in the past years. “What is this model? There is a group of privileged people in the country who can run businesses, illegal or legal, they enjoy privileges, they may even commit murders and not be punished. They possess everything and they pay back to the government during the election committing election fraud and keeping them in power. In other words, it is a system where there is no people, no society,” Manukyan says. According to him, this system may develop like any other system. “But there is something bad about it. First of all, it is not an effective model, and it will set our country back all the time. Second, it is not targeted at the needs of its citizens its people. In Armenia people get an African salary, while the prices are European,” Manukyan says. In his opinion, in this context the notion of a common candidate acquires more than one meaning. “For some people, it is a way to become the leader of this class within this model. Or to modify this class, get their people into it, remove some,” Manukyan says. He says some related judgments in the political sphere are not clear to him. “I cannot understand Geghamyan Artashes who says there are challenges and we and the government must be one. What has changed since 2003 regarding the challenges? They did not declare war on us. Why did we need to attack in 2003 and now to try to find points in common? I cannot understand this, especially when it does not help change the model,” Manukyan says. He does not understand rumors about Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s nomination either. “Levon Ter-Petrosyan is silent but I’m sure he will not be named. But what are his proponents talking about all the time? They say the elite want a new leader. And Levon Ter-Petrosyan could be their leader, he can win, and we need to join him,” Vazgen Manukyan says, adding that it is a false judgment. What makes Vazgen Manukyan believe that Ter-Petrosyan will not be named is that Levon Ter-Petrosyan does not need to. As to his relation with Ter-Petrosyan, he says they do not have personal problems despite rumors. There was a moment in 1991-1992 but then they had no personal problems, only disagreement over ideas, says the leader of the NDU. He says he was against the model built by Ter-Petrosyan. As to the present model of government, Vazgen Manukyan thinks in order to change it a civil movement is necessary. “If we run in the election just so, the election will end up in the usual way,” Vazgen Manukyan says. If this state of things continues, the series of vague intrigues, a civil movement will not be able to replace the country’s model, and Serge Sargsyan will become a legitimate president. With regard to Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Vazgen Manukyan asks a rhetorical question, the question which used to be asked for Putin: “Who is Levon Ter-Petrosyan?” “I knew only one Ter-Petrosyan until 1998 who was the president of the country, and with whom we waged a political struggle for some idea. That Levon Ter-Petrosyan was not found anywhere over the past ten years, there is no new Ter-Petrosyan, you see,” Vazgen Manukyan says. As to the argument on the choice of person or idea, Manukyan says the importance of person is big, and the argument of person and system is fundamental. For instance, the leader of the NDU asks how we can trust equally two persons who are saying the same thing about the replacement of the model. “If, for instance, I said and say Stepan Demirchyan said, whom would you believe and trust more?” Manukyan said with a smile during the post-news conference briefing.