Pro-government party in Karabakh urges unity

At Artsakh, Stepanakert
14 Jun 05

One of the leaders of a pro-government party has called for unity
as Karabakh begun voting in parliamentary elections. In an interview
with a Karabakh newspaper, Ashot Gulyan said: “As we are at war with
Azerbaijan, we have no alternative but be together and fight together
both in happiness and sadness. Any other way would be destructive.”

He said that after the 19 of June elections Karabakh will “move
up in terms of politics… because of the fact that democracy has
taken solid roots here”. The following is an excerpt from Svetlana
Khachatryan report by Nagornyy Karabakh newspaper Azat Artsakh on 14
June headlined “We will win, because the bases of democracy are solid”

Interview with the co-chair of the Democratic Party of Artsakh
[Nagornyy Karabakh], Ashot Gulyan.

[Correspondent] Mr Gulyan, the election campaign is nearing its end,
what do you think of the current stage of the campaign?

[Gulyan] I think, people will give their comprehensive assessment on
the day of the elections: 19 June.

As to my attitude to the current stage of the election campaign in
terms of both the logic of law and the due conduct of the campaign,
it is positive. Equal conditions have been created for all the blocs
fighting for parliamentary seats and the principles of democracy
were widely applied. I think it is very important to ensure that our
elections are free, fair and transparent.

[Passage omitted: on the election campaign and calls for responsibility
in the formation a new parliament]

Party history

The NKR authorities and the Democratic Party Artsakh (DPA) have
concrete programs in all the spheres. The predecessor of the DPA,
the Democratic Union of Artsakh [DUA], became a parliamentary
fraction in 2000. It drafted the programmes which are now being
implemented. Our economic and political programmes look to the future
and ensure solutions. Unfortunately, we have not received alternative
programmes from any of the other parties. At the same time, we are
far from saying that the DPA had made no mistakes during its five
years of work. We might have made some mistakes, but we are working
on eliminating them gradually as envisaged in our programmes. We
would have preferred for the criticism to be more targeted and factual.

[Correspondent] In the criticism voiced, we often hear the opinion
that the former DUA, which was founded by the authorities and renamed
the DPA, has not changed. Do you agree with this view?

[Gulyan] I am sure that people have not forgotten the situation of
1999, when the state was under threat of division into two poles,
the ramifications of which could have been damaging for the NKR.

Also the military dictatorship that rose at the time should not be
forgotten. The direct result of it was the assassination attempt
on 22 March 2000. There was a need for a force that could take
the responsibility for the state into its hands. [Passage omitted:
recaps history]

A revolutionary movement is one thing and quite another is to take
responsibility for the fate of people. It is in that situation
that the Democratic Union of Artsakh was founded. We did not call
ourselves a party, we stayed away from populist actions and empty
promises. We became partisans of a public movement. If we are to
look at the successes of the DUA , it is first of all the freeing
the people’s minds form fear. It is thanks to its role that we have
democracy today. From 2000 onwards all the elections in the NKR were
qualitatively better than the previous ones. I don’t think all that
has been forgotten. Why don’t we compare the level of social welfare
of the people with the one we had five years ago?

Why was the DUA renamed. That is another issue which some used
for manipulation. It was as a result of our parliamentary activity
that the law on parties was adopted. The renaming of the DUA became
imperative. Even the name is very much in place here.

[Passage omitted: reiterates the point]

Plea for “common” language

The DPA was not formed by the authorities. It is not fair to describe
as pro-government a party that was formed at such a difficult time
and that managed to take the state out of the crisis. The authorities
could not find a way out of that alone. And since all other political
parties did not back the government, the DUA supported it. It is a
positive example of mutual cooperation and trust between the government
and a serious socio-political organization.

[Passage omitted: more of the same]

Independent of the results of the elections we will continue to work
in the same fashion and try and find a common language with all the
political forces. That is a new imperative. As we are at war with
Azerbaijan, we have no alternative but be together and fight together
both in happiness and sadness. Any other way would be destructive.

Democracy in Karabakh has “solid” roots

[Correspondent] The 2005 election differs in terms of a comparatively
large number of candidates. Do you think this is normal?

[Gulyan] Certainly, the fact that not only political parties, but also
a great number of individuals expressed interest in becoming a member
of the legislative branch of power proves the presence of democracy
in its broadest form. [Passage omitted: talks about observers]

We have to show to the world that we are a state which observes
the internationally-recognized democratic principles. I believe,
that after the 19 June elections, Karabakh will move up in terms of
politics. And not because of the saviours of the country from the
opposition, but because of the fact that democracy has taken solid
roots here. And this will be our common victory.