Council of Europe resolution backfired on Armenian opposition, minister says

Noyan Tapan news agency
3 May 04

YEREVAN

The resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
[PACE] on the domestic political situation in Armenia crushed the
opposition’s major arguments, it boomeranged against the opposition,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said in an interview
with Armenian Public TV. He noted that “the resolution cut the ground
from under the feet of our opposition”.

Thus, the resolution, as well as the report that it was based on, gave
answers to the opposition’s major arguments that the president was
elected illegally, the election results were falsified and that
therefore, a referendum of confidence had to be conducted.

[Passage omitted: quotes from the resolution]

The minister said that the PACE said unambiguously that the
presidential election results, despite violations during the
elections, had been ratified by the international community and could
not be altered under pressure.

[Passage omitted: more quotes from the resolution]

At the same time, the minister said: “When the opposition’s actions
are illegal and unconstitutional, the authorities have no other choice
but to counter them, for their duty is to establish constitutional
order.”

In Oskanyan’s opinion, “the opposition has taken the wrong path” and
“this path leads to nowhere”. He said that the country’s authority is
very high, “it has reached the highest point”, the process of
Armenia’s integration into Europe, investment programmes, reforms and
strengthening democracy are rated highly. The foreign minister
expressed his anxiety over the fact that the opposition believed that
“the worse, the better” and stressed that this behaviour of the
opposition posed a great threat to the country at international
organizations. Oskanyan said that many problems have to be resolved,
including those related to the deepening of democracy and serious
challenges – both concerning the settlement of the Karabakh problem
and the continuation of the economic development. It takes a
constructive opposition to resolve them, Oskanyan said.