Armenian premier hails 2004 as not “bad” in year-end interview

Iravunk, Yerevan
24 Dec 04

Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan has said the year 2004 was not a
“bad” year for Armenia. In an interview with the Armenian newspaper
Iravunk, the prime minister spoke about Armenia’s economic and
political achievements over the past year and fielded questions on a
wide range of subjects. Markaryan urged the opposition to have a
“united” stance on the domestic and foreign policy issues. He
dismissed attempts to present the opposition boycott of parliament as
a “political crisis” and said that it was not “a tragedy”. The
following is an excerpt from Jasmen Vilyan’s report by the Armenian
newspaper Iravunk on 24 December headlined “‘President-prime minister
working relations are not conditioned by personal problems”;
subheadings have been inserted editorially;

An interview with Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan summing
up the political and economic results of the year 2004.

Iravnuk correspondent Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Mr
prime minister.

Markaryan Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and to
all the readers of your newspaper.

Passage omitted: background info

Correspondent Can you tell us about the achievements and flaws in
Armenia’s domestic and foreign policies in the past year?

Markaryan Now that the year 2004 is coming to an end, we can say that
it was not a bad year for our people and state. We have peace and
stability in the country as well as good economic indices, we have
fulfilled the state budget and so on. We are proud of certain
achievements on the basis of which we will continue to develop the
country in the next few years.

Karabakh

Undoubtedly, the main problem for us is finding a solution to the
Karabakh issue which will be to Armenia’s benefit. I think that in
2005 more active steps will be taken to solve this problem. We should
have a united stance on the domestic and foreign policy issues. We
should step up our efforts in international organizations. We should
use our diaspora to lobby more forcefully for a peaceful and fair
settlement of the problem.

Among the achievements of 2004, I would like to mention the launch of
the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction, which is of a great
economic and state security importance; the involvement of Armenia in
the “Extended Europe: New Neighbours” programme of the European Union;
the involvement of our country in the “Millennium challenges”
programme of the American government.

Opposition

Correspondent What can you tell us about the opposition boycott of
parliament and the fact that from time to time it makes blackmailing
statements about leaving the coalition and the fact that the coalition
parties are not friendly with each other?

Markaryan There are three different parties in the coalition. They
took responsibility for fulfilling the government programmes
jointly. They vowed to act in line with the memorandum they had
signed. This does not mean, however, that each of them cannot have its
own agenda, position and suggestions when it comes to solving any kind
of problems. They have also the right to discuss issues with their
partners and to defend their position. Such discussions within the
coalition are absolutely natural, I would even say necessary. But the
point is that such discussions and disputes are often being put into
the public domain which is a rather populist approach. Having
different views is a domestic problem for the coalition, but the
parties are trying not to turn them into disagreements. The partners
should present society with a single position adopted as a result of
discussions. Anyway, until today we managed to have a united approach
as a result of compromises to the most important issues. I do not
think that the opposition political forces do not have such
problems. Moreover, they have made contradictory statements on
ideological and geo-political and strategic issues. To be honest, I
would like the parties with the communist and liberal ideology to have
similar views on all the problems.

Passage omitted: Markaryan said there is no need for commenting on
blackmail statements.

As to the boycott or to be more correct a partial boycott of the
parliament’s work, I have said many times that the opposition
participation in the work of the parliament would make it more
fruitful and would give it more value. Naturally I cannot approve of
the opposition’s stance, but I do not see its absence from the
parliament as a tragedy, although some people are trying to present it
as political crisis. Life shows that the parliamentary majority
together with the government have worked very effectively in the
sessions.

Passage omitted: praises government majority in the National Assembly
for adopting “very important” laws

No revolution in Armenia in 2005

Correspondent Some predict that the year 2005 will be a year of
revolution. Do you agree with this?

Markaryan Are there such predictions for the coming year?

Correspondent Yes, there are.

Markaryan I do not know who makes such predictions and how serious
they are. But I see no objective reasons for them in Armenia, and I
would advise people not to speculate, not to forget our geographical
location, our problems, to show more respect to the state, which has
pledged to ensure a stable and gradual development and not a
revolution.

Passage omitted: dismisses reports about dissolution of parliament as
rumours, denies rumours of problems in relations with the president
and talks about people’s savings

Vows to cooperate with forces of same ideology

Correspondent On the whole, do you think it is possible to go into the
next parliamentary elections as a coalition?

Markaryan We will do that if on the eve of the elections we decide
that it makes more sense to cooperate with the coalition or make a
bloc with a political force which shares our ideology. But if we think
that it is more expedient to do it alone, then this is what we shall
do.

Correspondent What can you say about the majority-proportional
problem?

Markaryan I have already said that the RPA wants parties to have more
say in the public and political life, but the reality is rather
different. We reached an agreement on the 30-70 per cent ratio, and I
think that the coalition will not have serious problems with choosing
the final option.

Economy

Correspondent Let us also talk about the economic sphere. What do you
think of the year in terms of the economic achievements? Where did you
fail?

Markaryan We have solved almost all the problems we had in different
spheres which were mentioned at the beginning of the year. It can be
said there are no problems with the implementation of the budget. We
have every reason to expect a much higher economic growth than the one
planned. Once the ministries release their reports in the future,
society will be able to see for itself what we have achieved.

Correspondent Are you expecting any personnel changes at the beginning
of next year?

Markaryan If and when it happens, you would be informed. I think it is
pointless to make statements on this topic at this stage.