ARF IS BOTH GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, BOTH FOR AND AGAINST

Lragir, Armenia
July 20 2007

Member of Parliament Artsvik Minasyan, ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s faction,
stated July 20 at the Hayeli club in the recent style of Dashnaks
that the ARF is both government and opposition. "We are responsible
for both the good and the bad." The reporters asked what it means to
be government and opposition at the same time, and how it happens.

Artsvik Minasyan says the government ARF always endorses the actions
of the government. And when the ARF does not endorse separate actions,
in those cases the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is not government.

Artsvik Minasyan stated that the ministers who are members of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun are responsible for drafting and implementing policies
in the spheres they are in charge of.

In the upcoming presidential election the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
will name a candidate, who will not necessarily be a member of
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Artsvik Minasyan stated. Thereby, the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun will address the issue of offering an alternative
to the society, and he thinks the time of supporting one candidate
is past. Meanwhile, in Karabakh together with the other forces the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun endorsed one person, the representative of the
government Bako Sahakyan. Is it possible in Karabakh and impossible in
Armenia, we asked Artsvik Minasyan? "I did not say it is impossible
in Armenia. I said those times are over. The decision of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun to support Bako Sahakyan proceeded from today’s state
of Karabakh and the principle of a more stable environment, as well
as the personality of the candidate."