ARF RESPONDS TO REPUBLICANS: DASHNAKTSUTYUN IS READY FOR ALL OPTIONS

Lragir.am
19-09-2007 16:14:45

Recently some Republican activists have complained of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun’s decision to put up a presidential candidate. As to
the nomination of two candidates, Republican Armen Ashotyan said it
is the brand of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun which is offered in an effort
to increase their importance in the race for government levers. The
reporters who mentioned this evaluation on September 19 at the Friday
Club asked Armen Rustamyan, representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
Supreme Body, a likely presidential candidate, for comment.

"I think it is an effort to avoid debate and distract attention. What
does "a brand of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun" mean? Dashnaktsutyun has
always had a brand, for 117 years. If people have just learned about
the brand, it is their problem. Everyone should present its own brand
for people to make a choice. Besides, it is not so easy to acquire
a brand," Armen Rustamyan says.

As to Galust Sahakyan who said that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s statements
on being alternative to both the government and the opposition is
a flirt, Armen Rustamyan said: "If the pronouncement on running in
the presidential election is a flirt, then everyone is flirting." He
stated that the authors of similar statements consciously confine the
issue to a fight for positions to distract attention from the central
topic. "It is easy to describe it as a fight for posts to strike,
to criticize a political force," says the representative of the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun Supreme Body. According to him, it follows from
statements by Republicans that the first place is already occupied,
the other three or four places are vacant, Dashnaktsutyun and the
other forces may compete for the fifth or sixth places.

"Does it mean there is nobody except us?" Armen Rustamyan responds to
the statements by Republicans and asks a rhetorical question how it
happened that there is no one else except them. He officially states
that if the Republicans find it was unexpected for them and decide to
repeal the agreement on collaboration of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun with
the coalition, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is ready. "We are ready for all
the three options. The first is to recall our ministers and continue
to cooperate in other ways, there are other ways of cooperation. If
they find so, we are ready to recall our ministers. We are ready
because after all the ministers are political figures and they will be
somehow split if they remain in government and support our candidate,
and in order to prevent this split we may decide to take a vacation
for some period," Armen Rustamyan says. As to the third option for
which the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is ready, it is to continue this way.

Armen Rustamyan says being part of coalition or collaborating with the
coalition does not mean you have no right to put up a presidential
candidate. He also says the problem is not that they are against
Serge Sargsyan. "First, we are not against Serge Sargsyan. We are not
guided by the idea of being against someone. We are not against one
person or another. We are not looking for enemies in this country. On
the contrary, we want to bring everyone together for the sake of
something. They may tell us that our visions are not for the sake
of something but against something, there are no such problems,
you gave the wrong evaluation of the problems. They’re welcome, let
us have a debate, argue about the subject, the problems instead of
humiliating and defaming one another," Armen Rustamyan says. He says
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is ready for a political, ideological debate.

"And with ideology and politicization, in such climate, whoever
is elected president will be committed to solving the problems,
assume responsibility and be a quite different kind of president,"
Armen Rustamyan says. In answer to the question who Dashnaktsutyun
will support if another candidate runs in the second round with Serge
Sargsyan, Armen Rustamyan says if a second round of election is held,
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will evaluate the situation, the commitments
of the candidates running in the second round, and decide whom it
will support. Although the ARF Dashnaktsutyun thinks their candidate
will be running in the second round.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress