– Mr. Makeyan what is the status of discussions over the proportional electoral list in the ANC?
– We are holding instant discussions over the proportional electoral list and currently we are discussing the principles of list formation. It is useless to say anything, as there is no result or a concrete approach yet.
– In any case, how are you going to set the sequence in the list? Are you arranging internal elections or you elect the officials as per some ratings? What are the basic criteria for the list formation?
– All the versions you told are being discussed in our agenda.
– As per the media there are three people who are assumed to be in the first positions of the electoral list, who are Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Stepan Demirchyan and Aram Sargsyan.
– In the course of our discussions we had similar ideas, however nothing is finalized.
– They say there is a grave dispute between the ANC member parties and their members.
– I would not call them disputes; we have idea clusters and different approaches. Anyways, I believe we will find common borders during our discussions.
– As a chairman of Democratic Motherland party, for instance, what was your approach? According to different news different ANC member parties expressed different approaches.
– It is incorrect to publish a single approach of only one political party. ANC consists of 18 political parties. The only principle should be the country development through elections. This idea should lay in the basic mechanism of the proportional electoral list, and the electorate must feel this attitude. People should not feel as if the ANC has a problem of an electoral list and is solving a deputy mandate issue. It should be clear that ANC with all its actions is coming to change the situation in the country. This is the major psychological factor.
– You continued your demonstrations and rallies after 2008 presidential elections, despite the cold and bad weather conditions. What about the demonstration scheduled on February 17, was it only the unfavorable weather that you delayed that?
– The only reason was not the unfavorable weather, but also the icy roads. We were concerned about people coming from regions, as the roads were very dangerous. In 2008 demonstrations it was cold, but the roads were not frozen, and they were passable.
– In spite of the fact that the ANC was supporting Sasun Mikaelyan, RPA candidate won the mayoral election in the regional capital Hrazdan. Besides, the elections passed in quite calm atmosphere. There is an opinion that all the actions regarding those elections were performed prior to elections, and the polling process was windless. Aren’t you preoccupied that the ruling authorities will do the same during the upcoming parliamentary elections, and the opposition will not be able to do anything about this?
– Certainly, we have serious concerns. The basic interest of the authorities is to carry out their violations as quite as possible. This was evident in Hrazdan. Everything should be done to clarify the voters’ approaches, and the decision should be made not on the polling day but before that.
– What will you do to prevent people from taking a bribe and not be afraid of administrative tensions?
– The entire atmosphere should be changed and people should realize that, and that there is no need to be tempted by the administrative levers and be afraid of anything.
– You have been advocating about that for 4 years since previous presidential elections, but people could not come to this mindset, and went to February 12 elections with the same psychology. What do you hope to change during a few months?
– I wouldn’t say so, as 50% has come to that mindset, and now it is 50/50 relativity.
– But the opposite happened in Hrazdan and in other 38 communities.
– There was no competition in other communities but in Hrazdan it turns out that 47% refused money.
– What discussions have taken place within the Congress in relation to the majoritarian system nominations? Are you going to nominate candidates in all 41 districts or you have endorsed some other opposition candidates?
– The Congress will nominate its members in all districts. This is our approach.
– But have you discussed the possibility of cooperating with other opposition parties? Is it possible to establish a joint structure of fight with electoral violations?
– That is a normal idea and I think it will happen. We will expand the field of cooperation as much as we can. You can see that we are cooperating around the adoption of 100% proportional system.
– In your opinion, will the Congress will succeed in uniting the people again after this many intervals of rallies?
– National elections normally raise a bigger wave of complaint. Not only the discontent of the public to the incumbent regime but also the social-economic situation in the country will cause a big wave of protest.
– What is the status of the issues of the office space of your party in Arabkir community?
– Now we are in the last phase of appeal. We will apply to the Court of Cassation and see what the verdict will be. But I don’t hope for a positive answer. This space belongs to the territorial administration of state property. We have been renting the place since 1996 and we have made an investment of 25 million AMD because it was no good for use back then. They want our expulsion and this is a clear political decision on their part. We will struggle as much as we can and we have enough means. We have sent another suit to the European Court.