DASHNAKTSUTYUN SAY THEIR ACTION IS SERIOUS AND WILL ENHANCE THEIR IMPORTANCE

Lragir.am
19-09-2007 14:53:29

Armen Rustamyan, representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s Supreme
Body, stated the party’s stance on the upcoming presidential election
in a news conference on September 19 at the Friday Club. A few days ago
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s General Meeting decided to name president,
and nominated two: Armen Rustamyan and Vahan Hovanisyan, member of
the ARF Bureau . The ARF Dashnaktsutyun has to make a choice, and
the extraordinary General Meeting in November will decide which of
them will be Serge Sargsyan’s opponent.

Armen Rustamyan says the ARF Dashnaktsutyun is against the approach
that there is a candidate who has no alternative and whose victory
is predetermined. "The presidential election is going to be crucial
to shaping a truly balanced government in Armenia. And there is
a point of view which unfortunately is held by many to keep the
society in a climate that the outcome of the presidential election
is predetermined. This is the worst track which will paralyze the
political sphere and lead political developments into stagnation in
Armenia," Armen Rustamyan says. He says Dashnaktsutyun is against
this approach. According to him, the election must be real, and in
order to be real there must be a debate in the country on where the
country will be headed for in the upcoming 5 years.

The representative of the ARF Supreme Body says the present
stance of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun will shape a new role of the
party in the political sphere of Armenia, raising the importance
of the party considerably. Armen Rustamyan says since 1991 the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun has never named president. "I think this behavior of
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun was highly logical, but now we must become
involved in this debate as a full-right party," Armen Rustamyan says.

According to him, the activists who wonder how Dashnaktsutyun, which
is government, nominates a candidate apart from the government’s
candidate cannot understand what happened after May 12. "We have
explained that there were discussions in May when the format was
set that Dashnaktsutyun signed a collaboration agreement with the
coalition. It has already been discussed. Why are they surprised now?

It means they did not take it seriously when Dashnaktsutyun said it did
not join the coalition to nominate a candidate to the presidential
election," says the representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s
Supreme Body.

He says it is dangerous to shape a government with one pole, with
only one political force, when the president, the prime minister and
the parliament majority belong to the same political party. "Our
alternative we have stated, the difference of our approaches, is
crucial to a real election process," Armen Rustamyan says. He says
their participation is not a false alternative but a serious intention.