THE PRESIDENT’S SEAT NOT SHARED
S. Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
Nov 15 2007
Armenia

President Robert Kocharyan yesterday took part in the opening of
"Armprodexpo-2007", an international exhibition displaying the
achievements of local producers in the sphere of the procession
of agricultural products. After going round the pavilions, he also
responded to the questions of the journalists.

THE FUTURE OF ARMENIA IN THE EYES OF THE ARMENIAN PAN-NATIONAL MOVEMENT

The pre-electoral issues were not overlooked either. Touching upon
the speculations of conducting check-ups in facilities belonging to
the pro-Oppositional entrepreneurs, the President stated that "each
entrepreneur, be it a pro-Government or a ‘pro-Opposition’ figure,
is currently required to pay taxes on equal terms. At the end of the
year we will, as always, publish the list of the prominent tax-payers
and see to what extent their tax expenditures have increased."

Simply, "there are people who understand that the state has adopted an
anti-corruption program, and we will be consistent in those matters,
and there are people who do not want to reduce the shadow of their
economy and instead, are trying to politicize the issue, to make
a fuss, and roughly speaking, to display peevishness in order to
allocate smaller sums to the budget. I think, if you are rich, if we
are speaking about social justice, we should also have conscience to
allocate a due amount of our income to the state for solving social
issues. Such peevishness will not produce a good result."

Will the Opposition manage to consolidate and act with a united
candidate during the election or will it behave as usual? In response
to this question R. Kocharyan noted, "I am a little surprised that
the issue of a united candidate deserves so much attention by the
politicians or those who consider themselves political scientists. On
what grounds should they unite? Is running for election with a
united candidate an end in itself or are there common ideologies,
compatibility of programs which may serve as grounds for consolidation?

He also reminded of the ill-fated example of "Justice" block, "people
pursuing totally different ideas united with a single goal: to have
a seat in the Parliament. As to the end of that union, you all are
aware of it. The President’s seat is not shared; there’s only one
prize. And there will be only one person to be awarded that prize
during these elections."

Moreover, "the executive power is formed by the Parliament, where
the distribution of forces is already clear. In this case, we become
faced with the following question: is it possible to bring together
people whose goal is to become member of NATO and people and political
forces whose goal is to extend the relations with Russia.

Or, on what grounds should the political forces guided by the slogan
of liberal economy unite with the socialists?"

And the most surprising thing, in the opinion of the President of
the Republic is that "it turns out that there are political forces in
Armenia who consider that Turkey and Azerbaijan should be our chief
partners. I didn’t expect even the Armenian pan-National Movement to
express such pro-Turkish views. I didn’t think Armenia would ever
find itself in the ‘arms’ of Turkey. If there are people who agree
to those approaches, they are welcome to unite with Turkey, but let
them announce what future they see for Armenia."

Frankly speaking, we are surprised that the pre-electoral
aggravations of the chronic pro-Turkish policy displayed by the
Armenian pan-National Movement cause the President of the Republic
to become so astonished. Especially considering the member of that
party have never tried to conceal its unanswered love for the Turks
and the irresistible desire of making Armenia the vassal of Turkey
(and not of the United States and the influential European countries),
by making haste to isolate our country from Russia.

What’s more, according to the reliable information we possess, it
was before the shift of power that the senior representatives of the
Armenian pan-National Movement, in the person of Babken Ararktsyan
and company, were assiduously preparing for this historic stage that
would immediately change the "quality" of our life in all aspects.

They even hired Turkish language teachers with the purpose of
"guaranteeing" the future of their cherished children.

And the President turns out to have doubts: what future does the
group supporting the Armenian pan-National Movement see for Armenia,
the future "supplement" of Turkey and Azerbaijan…?