PRE-ELECTION SITUATION CALMER THAN DURING ALL OTHER ELECTIONS, MINISTER OF JUSTICE SAYS
Panorama.am
17:25 08/05/2007
The following are excerpts from the interview with Davit Harutunyan,
minister of justice and member of Armenian Republican Party (HHK)
board.
-Mr. Harutunyan, how would you evaluate the pre-election situation
in Armenia and what are your expectations from the elections?
-The pre-election situation in Armenia is rather calm, far calmer
than during all other elections. The political combat is far more
civilized than ever.
Speaking about my expectations, I must say that each party has high
expectations and internal anticipations. Our calculations are ambitious
and I hope they will be justified.
-You said the situation is incomparably calmer.
However, some media publications pinpoint to different political actors
who say that there is an atmosphere of fear in the country. Have you
noticed that?
– I have held many meetings throughout Armenia which will continue
today and tomorrow. Frankly speaking, I have not witnessed any
atmosphere of fear. I also do not see a reason for that.
– People are threatened that in case they do not go to meetings with
HHK, they will be fired.
– It is not fear. We may call a fear when a person is afraid of secret
ballot. What has HHK done? We have repeated in our speeches that
voters are free and it is impossible to control votes. We speak about
two things: is it possible to freely express political viewpoints or
are they restricted? I believe all political parties freely express
themselves, including extremists. The second issue concerns the day
of elections. HHK has done a lot for that day. Seminars and meetings
have been held, a memorandum was prepared for proxies to underline the
weak points of election processes and attract their attention to them.
-Mr. Harutunyan, do you expect post-election tensions or an attempt
of colorful revolution?
– There may always be temptations but they turn into a serious process
when they have objective support like unfair elections or when people
doubt in transparency of elections. I believe this time not only the
election will be fair, but also everything will be done that people
make sure no secret mechanisms are applied. In that case, there will
be no serious threat for destability.