"IT IS TIME TO BECOME SERIOUS," CHAIRMAN OF PROGRESSIVE UNITED COMMUNIST PARTY OF ARMENIA DECLARES

Noyan Tapan
Aug 2, 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, NOYAN TAPAN. It is time to become serious and take
structural steps and if communists do not unite and do not take part in
the 2008 presidential elections with a common candidate, their prestige
will remain low for a rather long time. This conviction was expressed
by Vazgen Safarian, the Chairman of the Progressive United Communist
Party of Armenia, at the press conference held on August 2. According
to him, the number of electors for the Communist Party of Armenia is
gradually decreasing: if the Communist Party of Armenia received 12.4%
of the votes in the 1995 parliamentarian elections, 12.2% in 1999,
then in 2003 and 2007 it, correspondingly, received 2.1% and 0.63%
on the whole.

In the conviction of Vazgen Safarian, communists should take part
in the 2008 presidential elections and prove that they have been
taught lessons from the mistakes of the past. He expressed hope that
the members of the Communist Party of Armenia themselves will give a
mark to the inefficient activities of the Chairman of the party. At
the same time the Chairman of the Progressive United Communist Party
of Armenia made assertions that the unification process of communists
will continue.

Vazgen Safarian mentioned that irrespective of the participation of
the Communist Party of Armenia, other communists will try to hold a
joint conference in autumn and nominate a common candidate. If they
do not manage to nominate a common candidate, then communists will
support that candidate for the post of the president, who will bear
the socialistic ideology.

However, communists will not support the candidate of the ARF
Dashnaktsutiun party, as, in the words of Vazgen Safarian, "their
socialism is of right character, and that of communists is left."

In response to the question of whether people are ready to vote for a
communist candidate, Vazgen Safarian mentioned that people saw many
liberals and nationalits during the past 17 years and became sure
that the authority of money does not make them happy. V. Safarian
also mentioned that the society in Armenia is very polarized and
that it cannot go on like this for a long time. Then he expressed
conviction that the moment when those down will no longer want to go
along with this situation, and those up will not be able to control
the situation will come soon.