– Is what’s happening between the RPA and the PA a mere collision, tension or a usual pre-election competition?
– The pre-election campaign hasn’t started yet and the coalition parties should realize their functions stipulated by the coalition declaration. The coalition was formed to realize the pre-election promises and policies of the president as well as the goals of the coalition declaration. Not only RPA but also all the other coalition forces should realize that responsibility is a political category. As of the tension then I think the closer we get to elections the more we are going to see all kinds of interpretations and expressions of ambitions. I can only say that the RPA is the main favorite of the political marathon at this stage. In the political race not the sprint (the run-up of 100 meters) but marathon is what matters, which lasts 42 kilometers 195 meters. In sprint your breath may be enough for 100 meters. After that it will be difficult to run.
– By saying sprint, do you mean the PA?
– RPA supports the marathon run in the election race. And the most important thing is not the quick start but who gets to the finish line first.
– PA joined the initiative of the ARF and the Heritage parties to support 100% proportional election system. Don’t you have concerns that this might be the beginning of the PA-opposition cooperation and that this may become a threat for the RPA. This idea is also endorsed by the non-parliamentary opposition – the ANC.
– I am sure that the majoritarian and proportional election systems are not the key topics that concern the Armenian society and in order to gain such a big political resonance. The world doesn’t have such a model, which would say this is bad and the other one is good. We shouldn’t run after the shapes but contents. And in many cases we shouldn’t deal with political imitation. We should conduct a content-wise struggle. We should be able to provide a development of normal democratic standards in our country. Let me only remind that all the three coalition parties adopted the revised election code. And it’s worth mentioning that during the adoption of the code except for a few Heritage MPs, none of our venerable colleagues from the PA brought up the issue of transitioning 100% proportional system. And only now these people remembered that this clause is defined in their pre-election platform. Usually we are big supporters of hearings but the parliamentary practice of all countries shows that hearings are effectual before the adoption of the law. This party was one of the co-authors of the code. What has been changed during these few months? I can only name it a pre-election PR action. And perhaps this is a little unsuccessful trick. As of the opposition, then in this field the tension is going to be stringer because during the race ARF, ANC and Heritage will be competing to win votes. And why not certain coalition forces will also try hard for their votes. We clearly realize that there is a radical electorate, which will hardly vote for the government. I don’t even want to speak about the ideological differences of the ANC, ARF and Heritage.
– Is this a trick or trade? Because such matters are usually raised to gain certain compromise from political forces.
– Political tricks are a common practice in the entire world. I should only say that they are not honest and fair. Their arguments are not substantiated. I think in politics successful are those parties, who clearly say yes or no and don’t deviate from their policies halfway.
– You have spoken about coalition responsibilities, sincerity and honesty. Do you hint that the PA is not faithful to the coalition declaration?
– Let me say that the coalition is not only RPA’s. All the three political forces have equal responsibility. Nobody was made to join to coalition. All the three parties gathered around the coalition in order to resolve the most significant issues of the country and endorse the President’s pre-election platform. If you read the points of the coalition declaration you may analyze the activities of the partners yourself. This is a political trick. It’s not honest for us to see a clear difference between the promises and the actions. They could have invented something better.
– During the previous parliamentary elections the main political forces the key ruling parties have agreed not to run against each other in single-mandate districts. This time both the RPA and PA state that they will nominate their candidate in almost all the 41 districts. This fact may already cause a conflict.
– Our party is not yet done discussing the proportional lists or nominees for the majoritarian elections. These discussions have recently started in the party and will end after the RPA congress to be held in mid-March. And anybody, who already stated their nominations follow the Olympic principle and think that the first nominated candidate will win. Good luck with that. I think we should avoid turbulence. Politics is a competition that is open for participation and we should be able to provide a normal competition. As of the nomination in the 41 districts then they should read the coalition statement. I think they were saying something else there.
– At any rate, there is a viewpoint that this inner-coalition tension was formed because of the fact that the PA demands that it receives 11-12 single-mandate seats out of 41. But the president agreed to give the PA as many single-mandate seats as last time – 8 mandates.
– The citizens of the country should decide this. The RPA goes through the democratic way and relies on democratic values. And the RPA has never let anyone to speak in the language of threats and ultimatums. We speak in a respectful way not only with our coalition counterparts but also the opposition. And we demand the same manners from others. And you shouldn’t focus on the possible conflicts between the RPA and the PA. There are not insurmountable contradictions.