REPUBLICANS THINK ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN’S PRONOUNCEMENTS ARE FLIRT

Lragir.am
17-09-2007 14:34:41

The new deputy leader of the Republican Party Galust Sahakyan gave some
distant and indirect advice to the ARF Dashnaktsutyun regarding the
presidential election of 2008. The ARF leadership had stated during the
opening of the General Meeting of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun in Karabakh
though they are in government and they take part in problem solution,
they do not take part in the distribution of economic levers. The
reporters asked about Galust Sahakyan’s attitude, considering that
Sahakyan took part in the opening of the General Meeting and represents
the force which is also part of government. "I think we don’t need
to criticize, we will be doing our job. I think the practice of the
past years showed that before every election they use dark colors to
describe the Republican Party and take the best for them. On the one
hand, they have got used to it, on the other hand, we can analyze it
in our conference and give a reply," Galust Sahakyan says.

The reporters reminded that Hrant Margaryan, member of the ARF
bureau, had said in an interview with the Diasporan media that the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun is positive opposition. Galust Sahakyan says these
pronouncements are but flirt. "There cannot be a positive or negative
government or opposition. There is an opposition camp and there is a
camp of pro-government parties. All the rest is flirting, and everyone
is accountable for their actions at some point. We are saying that
we are responsible for the functions in government in the years when
we were part of government or we’ve been government, both for the
negative and the positive. This is our stance, and in some sense we
do not accept the stance of Dashnaktsutyun," Galust Sahakyan says.

The deputy leader of the Republican Party made some hints at the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun regarding the presidential election and the
post-election process. "Will they run in the election with the mantle
of opposition or a pro-government party? If they wear the mantle
of opposition, they cannot be in government, and if they are part
of the government, they must come to agreement with the centrists
regarding the election and control of its conduct. This is not under
consideration now. There is an option: they can recall their government
levers or ministers and change their capacity. Besides, since they
were in government for so many years now, they may stay and run in
the election with more correct and more governmental responsibility,"
Galust Sahakyan says.

The context of his words is if the ARF Dashnaktsutyun misbehaves in
the presidential election, it may lose its share of government.

However, at least verbally, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun did not behave
in the parliamentary election; in other words, it wore the mantle
of opposition, as Galust Sahakyan put it. However, it did not
prevent Dashnaktsutyun from becoming part of Government. As to who
or what may prevent Dashnaktsutyun from wearing the same mantle of
opposition in the presidential election and staying in government,
Galust Sahakyan made clear that the Republican Party is not going to
remove Dashnaktsutyun from the feeder of government. "I think it is
in the principles and political behavior of the Republican Party,
and we think the political forces should not be removed from the
government levers because our political state is such that everyone
should participate in the political life," says the deputy leader of
the Republican Party.

In other words, Dashnaktsutyun may put up its own candidate, criticize
the Republican Party, accuse the Republican Party of everything but
receive a share in government. "It depends on how they are going to
run in the election. They may even run in the presidential election
and keep their government levers. It depends on what they can tell
the society," Galust Sahakyan says.

He states that the Republican Party is not insulted by the criticism of
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, which blames the Republican Part for everything
even though it is also part of government. Galust Sahakyan even says
the Republican Party is ready to continue to cooperate with the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun. "In politics there is no insult, they see the results,
analyze and go on. It depends on the political situation after the
presidential election, and it depends on the society’s expectations
from the government," Galust Sahakyan says. According to him, forces
cannot be fully estranged in politics.