OPPOSITIONIST WANTS WEST TO SPONSOR TV CHANNEL AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
By Anna Saghabalian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 8 2007
A veteran opposition member believes international organizations
and embassies of western states in Armenia should request the
local authorities to establish a new television channel that would
propagandize democratic values to Armenian society ahead of next
year’s presidential elections.
At a meeting with journalists on Wednesday Arshak Sadoyan also called
on Armenia’s political parties and nongovernmental organizations
to seek the establishment of such a channel that would further the
democratic processes in the country by "broadcasting the sessions of
the National Assembly and events connected with the government and
political parties."
This failing, Sadoyan suggests that international organizations
should hire at least one hour of airtime on a television channel
with a nationwide coverage to "advocate democratic values before the
presidential elections and enable opposition politicians to present
their views."
The veteran oppositionist, who fared poorly in the last parliamentary
elections, is confident that the Armenian authorities will not reject
this request if international organizations get involved in the process
"officially and financially".
Another oppositionist, Hrant Khachatrian, who leads the opposition
Union for Constitutional Rights (SIM), suggests picking the single
opposition candidate for the presidential race using a western
technique. He believes the primaries, which are widely used in some
western democracies, will help choose the worthiest candidate from
the opposition for next year’s presidential election.
Khachatrian admits that the process will requires additional time
and effort, as well as much more financial resources, but says it
will prove worthwhile in the final analysis.
"My vision is that first an opinion independent of the political
conjuncture and different financial sources should be formed, and this
opinion will have its weight in society," Khachatrian said vaguely,
without giving any details of the proposed measure.