Armenian leader calls for constructive opposition

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
11 Apr 05

[Presenter] Not a single state structure in Armenia has ever made
territorial claims to Turkey. In our foreign policy our aim is to
achieve the international recognition of the Armenian genocide. After
achieving the goal we shall analyse the legal consequences, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan told a meeting with students of Yerevan
State University’s economy department today.

The economists showed interest in the country’s future economic and
social development. Robert Kocharyan welcomed improvements in the tax
and custom systems and also talked about ways of resolving
shortcomings in the health, education and social spheres.

They also talked about the Karabakh problem. The president said again
that Armenia will never be the first to start war. The Armenian side
has no plans to solve the problem through war.

[Passage omitted: the president speaking about positive dynamics of
stable economic development in the republic]

Speaking about the opposition, the president said.

[Robert Kocharyan, captioned] I would like to urge our opposition
activists to rid themselves of a complex about failing to stage a
revolution. We often read in the press that our opposition is very
weak and bad. It has failed not because it is working badly but simply
because the authorities in our country are working more effectively
and better.

Revolutions mainly happen during elections and the weakness of the
authorities is then obvious. For example, in Georgia people had not
been paid pensions for years and the economic situation in Kyrgyzstan
was very similar. In these countries there was a generational change
with younger and more dynamic leaders replacing Soviet leaders. This
kind of generational change happened in Armenia twice, in 1991 and
1998. Let us look at who came to power in Georgia, Ukraine and
Kyrgyzstan several years ago. They all held responsible posts but had
resigned and joined the opposition because of their aspiration for
more active reforms.

Unfortunately, it is very painful that our opposition does not take
part in the parliament’s sessions. It could have expressed their
opinions via news conferences. But members of the opposition say
nothing. The reason is that in order to express their views on the
subject you must know what you are talking about and have some
experience.

What I said does not apply to every opposition activist.