PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
7 Vazgen Sargsian Street
Yerevan 375010, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 58.08.77, 52.22.38
Fax: (+374 – 10) 54.38.97
Email: info@heritage.am; office@heritage.am
Website:

April 7, 2006

HERITAGE PARTY HOLDS EMERGENCY CONFERENCE

Yerevan–The Heritage Party today convened a special meeting of members and
supporters at the auditorium of the Writers’ Union of Armenia. Throughout
the event, the party faithful analyzed the latest political developments and
deliberated on future courses of action.

The conference opened with Hasmik Harutiunian’s rendition of Armenia’s
national anthem, “Mer Hairenik.”

Heritage’s political secretary Vardan Khachatrian welcomed the capacity
audience with opening remarks. “We are determined to fight until victory,
and our collective resolve will prevail despite the repression and political
persecutions by the ruling administration,” he said.

Raffi K. Hovannisian, chairman of the Heritage Party, was then invited to
take the floor. In a powerful keynote address, he explored recent political
developments and proposed measures toward resolving the adverse effects of
the myopic domestic and foreign policies of the sitting presidency.

Making an assessment of current realities, Hovannisian revealed the “theater
of the absurd” which has come to grip the country’s social and political
life. “The real perpetrators are accusing the innocent, the politically
purchased are preaching ethics, and patriotism is once more being tainted by
criminal hands,” he said. Convinced that the divide of estrangement between
the people and the rulers of the day further deepened following the
outrageously falsified constitutional “referendum” last November,
Hovannisian asserted that the incumbent ruling clique, which “has turned our
Homeland into their bonanza,” is no longer capable of perceiving
contemporary challenges and surmounting them with strategic leadership and
in the national interest.

Raffi Hovannisian concluded with his and the Heritage Party’s common vision
for the Motherland, a future incompatible with the terrible truths currently
reigning within all spheres of national life. “The parochial maintenance of
petty power cannot remain the defining line of our identity, our
civilization, and our statesmanship,” he noted, calling for a determined
struggle to restore our nationwide unity, civic society, public trust, and
the conduct of free, fair, and dignified elections.

In his talk, Academician Rafael Ghazarian made an appeal to tolerate no
longer the immorality and perversion of the ruling circles. Brute force must
be met by popular strength, he maintained. “That strength is the body
politic which must stand firm against the infringements of the criminal
gang. That strength is in rediscovering our past unity.”

Also noteworthy were interventions by renowned actors Vladimir Abajian and
Yervand Manarian, Heritage board member Anahit Bakhshian, head of the party’
s Vanadzor division Garnik Sahakian, former Goris mayor Samvel Harutiunian,
and many others who called upon the public to unite and bring the country
out of the current crisis. They also drew attention to the fact that
democracy, freedom, and the rule of law are an imperative for Armenia.

In the collective view of Heritage Party members, the main obstacle standing
in the way of the country’s democratic progress is the ineffective domestic
and external policy of the current administration. And the way out of this
predicament, in their firm belief, is the rapid formation of new and
legitimate authorities.

In his closing remarks, Raffi Hovannisian underscored yet again that
“temporary obstacles cannot and must not block the party’s way, which today
continues its national quest with even greater responsibility and pride.”

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central headquarters are located at 7 Vazgen Sargsian Street, Yerevan
375010, Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 580.877, fax at (374-10)
543.897, and email at info@heritage.am