ARF IS STRONG BECAUSE OF ITS SUPPORTERS
By Karine Mangassarian
Yerkir.am
April 20, 2007
"ARF is strong because of its supporters. Vote for the ARF and you
will see that the ARF is a party that takes responsibility," Rector
of Haybussak Univeristy in Yerevan Anahit Harutyunian said at the
meeting with the students on April 19.
Hrayr Karapetian, the leader the ARF faction in parliament, who runs
for the parliament from a single-mandate constituency in Arabkir,
was invited to the university to present the ARF’s platform.
Anahit Harutyunian informed the heads and students of 22 universities,
colleges and private schools accredited by Intellect Association have
decided to support the ARF in the upcoming elections.
"We have always supported this party because we know that we should
give our votes for work already implemented and not empty promises,"
Harutyunian said. The Council of Rectors of Intellect Association
was unanimous in its decision because the ARF’s contribution to the
sphere of education is obvious.
When the Law on Education was passed in 1999 there was no mentioning of
private education in the law. Minister of Sceince and Education Levon
Mkrtchian did his best to ensure that the law also regulates private
education. "The rights of 25 thousand students were violated at that
time. So we turned to our old friends, to the ARF’s parliamentary
faction. It is due to their support that we have equal rights in
all issues.
We will be returning our debt on May 12. If we do not appreciate
all the positive things that the ARF has done we will face a vague
situation in the future. The ARF is the only political force on which
we can rely. Every Armenian who is concerned about the future of his
country and knows its history must vote for this party, and Hrayr
Karapetian who runs in Arabkir community under the single-mandate
system," Harutyunian said.
In his speech addressed to the students and faculty of the university
Karapetian stated that the National Assembly should be an exclusively
political body, therefore, only political means of campaigning must be
used in the pre-electoral period. "We can distribute food and money
like other parties do but we will not do so because we believe it is
immoral to manipulate the population’ s difficult economic situation."
Karapetian believes there are individuals and political forces that
want to get into the parliament at any cost with the purpose of gaining
profits from their private businesses and using the legislation for
their personal interests and goals. Personal and party interests
should not be placed above national interests. Karapetian is the only
candidate nominated by the ARF in Arabkir community.
All governmental and opposition forces of Armenia are represented in
this constituency. Karapetian said he was nominated to ensure that
exemplary elections are held in at least one constituency. ARF is
active in nation-wide political campaigning and will denounce any
violations of the electoral process.
Almost all political forces offer the same thing today. Let me stress
once again why you should vote for the ARF. You should vote for the
ARF because it is an experienced political party. During its history
of 117 years ARF has many times proved its dedication to the Armenian
nation. ARF never goes against its principles no matter if it joins
the government or is in the opposition," Karapetian stated.
The ARF’s parliamentary faction has initiated laws of great
importance and passed them in the National Assembly with great
difficulty. Karapetian pointed out the law on Teaching Armenian
Studies Courses as an example of such laws.
"We felt that teaching of Armenian language and Armenian history is
threatened because of subjective reasons. No matter who becomes the
Minister of Science and Education no one has the right to interfere
with teaching of the Armenian language and history because it is
now protected by the law." Due to ARF’ s efforts to pass the law on
citizens who have not served in the army 3 thousand young people were
able to return to the country.
"Our recent surveys have shown that ARF is very popular among the
young people. This shows that the young generation has no complexes
related to the national ideology. We are ready to cooperate with all
national forces," Karapetian stated.
The Lebanon representative of the International Academy of Education
Mrs.
Jemma is an Armenian citizen who lives in Beirut. In her speech
she noted that she had decided to postpone her trip to Lebanon
to be able to vote for the ARF. Mrs. Jemma is not a member of any
parties. She told about the guys from the ARF’s Lebanese structure
who were defending the Armenian families from the bombings during
the war in Lebanon.
Diana Balassanian, student, told her friends that she had returned
from Spain where she is now studying to be able to participate in
the elections. "You can guess for whom I am planning to vote – the
force that is always with the people," Balassanian said.
