YEREVAN, BAGHRAMYAN, RESIGNATION, NEW TIMES
Lragir.am
04 April 06
The opposition in Armenia would not do a revolution, but the
movement is already a fact. Months after the open-air rally of the
Republic Party the Nor Zhamanakner (New Times) Party held an open-air
conference. They had been declined the government hall of the meetings,
and they immediately moved to the square of Matenadaran, where they
held the conference of the party on April 4.
It is apparent that these open-air conferences are an implication
to the oppositionist parties, who have access to the government hall
of meetings. For instance, Artashes Geghamyan was allowed to hold a
similar conference in the hall, and Aram Karapetyan, the leader of
the Nor Zhamanakner Party, keeping up with Aram Z. Sargsyan, moved
to the square to show who is persecuted and left in the street. In
other words, who is deeper opposition. And during the conference Aram
Karapetyan was trying to show that they are the deepest opposition,
and would never make a deal with anyone.
“All the parties in the opposition, if there are any, which tried
to make a deal for a slight presence in the parliament in 2007,
they immediately say: it is early to start making deals, you will be
cheated. You will have no seats in the parliament, or you are going to
have mandates which will not mean anything. Nothing will change. The
election in 2007 will bring about a stifling situation, a much worse
situation, which will force those people, those few people, who are
ready to struggle, to leave the country,” says Aram Karapetyan. To
highlight his opposition, Karapetyan cast a stone on those political
parties that equally play opposition and government. According to
the Nor Zhamanakner, the attempts to come to an agreement with the
government are in vain, because the results will be falsified in
any case.
“They will report the results they want, and will not consider if
Armenia is prosperous, allied, popular, republic, nothing,” states
Aram Karapetyan. The epithets derived from names of parties are clear
except the last one, which is the name of the most revolutionary
oppositionist force. But the speech of Aram Karapetyan went on to
reveal that on April 4 he had decided to hit everyone.
“Cheer up people, bring them to Yerevan, to Baghramyan Street,
resignation. There are no ideas in Armenia. Because it is impossible
to fulfill another idea in Armenia if you are not changing power in a
downward movement,” states the leader of the Nor Zhamanakner on their
standpoint. According to him, the conference was organized to check
their ability to organize. In April the Nor Zhamanakner will start
visiting regions, cheering up people, and preparing for their arrival
to Yerevan. When outlining this plan Aram Karapetyan stopped on May,
saying that “May is a nice name.”
“We have never said we want to be the axis. You have never heard
such words from me and will never do. We say we want you to join us,
to join our resources, and do it together. If not, we are going to do
what we can on our own. The recent developments showed that we can do a
lot,” says Aram Karapetyan. These phrases contain the blow to the most
revolutionary force; the member of the political council of the latter
Suren Surenyants has announced recently that their party, i.e. the
Republic Party, was going to be the axis of the opposition. Aram
Karapetyan indirectly states that unlike others he does not have
a complex of axis. Karapetyan also announces that he does not have
money problem, moreover, he gives his own money for he believes that
he can save the homeland by cheering up people with his money.
“2006 is our year, because pressure will be put on the government of
Armenia with regard to the foreign policies on the problem of Iran,
the Karabakh issue, the problem of price of gas, and other subjective
circumstances. These people have made vows connected with foreign
policies, and now they are in a confusion,” states Aram Karapetyan. He
considers the orientation of his political party to be quite clear
– pro-North.
“In my opinion, Armenia is going to be a close ally of Russia’s. The
closest ally. To become as close as possible without losing the
national identity and statehood. You will see what will happen in
Georgia. You will see how close we will become with Russia after the
developments in Georgia. We must be able to use the Russian market
to become an industrial country. Therefore we need that the roads in
Georgia should be open. And if Georgia is ready for it, it is welcome,
if it is not ready, a very bad situation will await Georgia,” Aram
Karapetyan forecasts the new times of Armenia and Georgia at once.
He announces that the Georgian state is on the verge of decay. “And
if we are not prepared for this decay, a terrible catastrophe will
happen to the Armenian population,” says Aram Karapetyan. By the way,
Aram Karapetyan also says that for the first time the road inspection
did not stop the buses with the participants of the conference driving
from the regions.