It’s not excluded that the PA may suggest the RPA running with a joint list

20/12/2011 Armine AVETYAN

– Do you find the statement of the rector of Haybusak university Anahit Harutyunyan an accident, by which she argued if the PA goes against Serzh Sargsyan she will quit the party. Perhaps Harutyunyan is making such a statement forced by the government.

– Anyone, who seemingly has a good rating, attracts such things. I don’t have the right and cannot exclude anything. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t like to see a political context in this statement. At any rate, I wouldn’t like our political parties took steps in such methods.

– How do you interpret her statement as a member of the political council of the RPA?

– I personally wouldn’t allow others to ask me such questions. But if they accidentally asked such questions I wouldn’t answer those.

– Is there any discontent within the PA regarding this statement?

– I don’t know for sure but there might be various comments on this statement.

– Do many people in your party think the same way that during the presidential run the PA should endorse Serzh Sargsyan or otherwise they will quit the party?

– I know that we are a political force that signed a coalition declaration and do realize that for the time being this declaration is still valid. I wouldn’t like to give more comments in that regard. We have signed this document and this is a fact.

– Based on that document can we clearly fix that the PA is going to endorse Sargsyan’s candidacy in 2013?

– I think so.

– Does this exclude that the PA may nominate a different candidate?

– How can I exclude anything? I as an individual can neither exclude nor have the right to exclude anything. All I can say is that we have signed a political document and regardless of the date of its expiry it’s still valid.

– The coalition declaration signed on February 17 has a political significance but not a legal force.

– Regardless of this fact I do realize that we have given our consent.

– Do you find it possible that by the launch of the elections the PA may deflect from that declaration?

– It is possible that in this life there might be earthquake on this planet. I cannot say anything definite about the things that are independent from me.

– Do the recent events around the PA – the arrests, inspections and such statements, have any connection with the urge of running the elections on a joint list?

– At least at this point I can that no one has talked to me about this matter. And I’m personally not interested. I can’t clearly say why all this is being done.

– In political circles they have started to speak that the PA has many drug addicts. Having known that, Gagik Tsarukyan doesn’t take any steps in that regard.

– There were such opinions in the media. I think for many people it is really difficult to understand whether there are really drug addicts in the PA or not. Let them first of all go think about themselves. At least I can say that Gagik Tsarukyan is a serious man and he never adverts to such matters.

– The coalition declaration, which you referred to, has a condition to endorse the incumbent president in the next elections. Also there is a condition to keep the balance during the parliamentary elections. Doesn’t the second condition contradict the “50+1” statement of Gagik Tsarukyan?

– How can any political force speak about the proportion if it ultimately depends on the number of the population and the ballots of voters? How can we speak about any proportion at this stage?

– In that case, how was this declaration signed?

– That’s how the declaration was developed and maybe someone omitted this word.

– Does the intention of the PA to have “50+1” ballots during elections still valid?

– Every political party intends to have a wide electorate. But no political party is able to clearly say or accurately predict how many ballots they will get. The problem is that Tsarukyan didn’t say that we will have “50+1” ballots. How could you deform his statement? I remember his statement very well. He said that we can take on political responsibility only when we gain “50+1” ballots of voters.

– Last year in October on the day when Samvel Balasanyan was elected deputy-chair of parliament Tsarukyan said, “Today we are doing our best to be a big party in order to be able to implement our goals, to prove that our words can turn into actions. The rest are just fairy tales. People sleep in their homes and wake up in the morning, start to say whatever they have seen in their dreams. We have always tried and will keep trying to gain “50+1” votes.”

– I am also saying that we are going to strive for the maximum? Do I sound immodest?

– Of course not. It merely contradicts the coalition declaration, which states that the parties included should keep the balance.

– At any rate, we are human beings and can make certain omissions.

– Even the leaders of the three parties? One of them is the president, the other is the secretary of national security committee and Gagik Tsarukyan is an MP and a powerful businessman.

– It would be better if you asked them the question.

– Mr. Bostanjyan, in the upcoming elections will the PA intend to increase the number of its votes or will it be loyal to the declaration? Do these two plans contradict each other?

– No they don’t. Any political party is striving for the maximum and as a political party that has signed a coalition, we have obligations not to apply impermissible methods in relation to each other.

– Do you mean not to increase votes at the expense of each other?

– Don’t say proportion of votes.

– But the coalition declaration exactly reads that way.

– You should say not to dominate over each other.

– Do you find it possible for the two parties to run with a joint list?

– If the joint list will bring stability, tranquility and tolerance to our country let it be that way. Any approach to the development of the country is useful.

– There are opinions that the government is trying to create such an environment for the PA so that Gagik Tsarukyan would offer Serzh Sargsyan and the RPA to run on a joint list.

– To such questions I usually respond that nothing is excluded.