Yesterday the presidential candidate from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Vahan Hovhannisyan presented his election program at the Armenia Marriott Hotel.
Unlike the other two candidates, the hall was more musical. Songs praising the ARF Dashnaktsutyun were sung, and instead of a sitting presentation of the election program the ARF Dashnaktsutyun had chosen a more rally-like option but inside a hall. On the background of the hall the Armenian flag was waving. The ARF ceremony also hosted Ruben Hakhverdyan, who was dissatisfied by the ARF after the last elections as well as a group of citizens, who have made an agreement with Vahan Hovhannisyan, who had been holding posters named “I am with Vahan”. They were also exclaiming, “Our Vahan”. The team, which Vahan Hovhannisyan invited to the stage are known to the society: Hrant Margaryan, minister Levon Mkrtichyan and Aghvan Vardanyan, member of parliament from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Alvard Petrosyan and others. “I am not giving promises. I am just taking duties and am willing to carry those out in a proper manner. I will do it with my friends,” said Hovhannisyan and continued, “I need your vote and credo.” He said that Armenia currently survives but it needs leaps for development. “Unfortunately, a vicious model has emerged in Armenia when powerful economic clans are government, and the mechanisms of acquiring their wealth are known to us and occurred in the early 1990s, unfair privatization, those clans have seized political power,” says the ARF presidential candidate. “It is visible to us today that having a strong Diaspora, and making corrections in the policy of Armenia, we have started creating major problems for the Turkish diplomacy at a global scale. We the Armenians. Certainly, Turkey will be trying to set up a new front using the growing aggression on behalf of Azerbaijan. Hence, our relations with Turkey must be built in a careful and decisive way. And now we should exclude careless statements, which are officials often make,” said Hovhannisyan without mentioning any ways. Before Vahan Hovhannisyan had entered the hall the head of his election headquarters Armen Rustamyan made a speech. He stated that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is resolved to fight for a fair election. “We should do our best to have a more powerful Armenia after the elections 2008. The ARF is going to make sure that RA citizens don’t feel imposed when going to polling-stations. The objective, which the ARF set can be accomplished only by the ARF candidate,” said Rustamyan.