PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 53.69.13
Fax: (+374 – 10) 53.26.97
Email: info@heritage.am; office@heritage.am
Website:

December 18, 2007

Heritage Follows Through on Its Promise

Yerevan–During a special session held on December 6, the Heritage
Party Council decided not to nominate a candidate for the presidential
elections scheduled for February 19, 2008. Having failed to reach
consensus on endorsing another candidate, the delegates of the Council
decided to empower the party board to make the final decision about
the party’s participation in the elections. To that end, the Council
instructed the board "to obtain from all nominees their vision for
Armenia and their proposed policies, programs, and governance
mechanisms, as well as their individual and collective qualifications,
and then to inform the Armenian public of its findings and
conclusions."

Following that instruction, the party board today held a special
meeting and officially forwarded a set of inquiries, comprising
twenty-two questions, to all presidential candidates in anticipation
of their truthful replies. The answers to these questions are of vital
concern not only to the party and its supporters, but also to a large
cross-section of the body politic. Heritage leader Raffi K.
Hovannisian explained: "This is neither an experiment nor a sudden
impulse. Our objective is to inform the voters about the political
positions, leadership qualities, and personal characteristics of the
future president of Armenia, and, in doing so, to determine Heritage’s
course of action."

Questionnaire for Public Information

1. Why do you want to become president and, if elected, which will be
your first five steps?
2. What, in your opinion, are the greatest external and domestic
challenges facing Armenia and Armenian citizens?
3. What do you consider to be the just solution to the Artsakh
dilemma, and what are the avenues through which it might be resolved?
4. What are the priorities of Armenia’s economic growth?
5. Do you intend to eliminate political, economic, and social
inequality in the country, to separate the state from any and all
political parties, and to eradicate the endemic conflicts of interest
between government and business? If yes, what steps will you take to
these ends?
6. Do you plan on exposing and prosecuting the wealthiest of tax
evaders and state officials who have embezzled or carried out
political persecutions? If yes, what will be your priorities?
7. What is your stand on the "Property for Debt" arrangement within
the framework of interstate relations and on similarly controversial
agreements that have been reached in the telecommunication, energy,
and other domains of strategic importance?
8. What is your strategy for and approach toward using the potential
of the Armenian Diaspora?
9. Which should be the individual and professional attributes of our
nation’s president? Do you possess these attributes?
10. Do you believe that your personal example and political activity
have assisted in the establishment of a free, independent, and
democratic social system that is anchored in the rule of law and the
rights of the citizen? If yes, please explain.
11. Does your track record include potentially unlawful activities,
corruption for example, which would enable others to influence your
judgment? If yes, please specify.
12. During your prior official tenure, if applicable, has an innocent
person ever been imprisoned, even if by a court verdict, with your
involvement or knowledge, or have you been informed of such
imprisonment in advance? If yes, please provide details.
13. During your prior official tenure, if applicable, have you made
substantive mistakes and errors? If yes, what were they and how do you
intend to rectify them?
14. Have you run in other elections and, if so, did you at any time
possess any factual information on election fraud or bribery committed
in your favor? If yes, please specify.
15. What is the difference between your and your family’s
assets–monetary, material and technical property, stocks and
equities, real estate, other personal possessions, and business
interests registered either under your or someone else’s name–as of
1991 and at present, and how do you explain that difference?
16. Who are your nominees for Armenia’s prime minister, prosecutor
general, chief of police, chief of national security service, and
ministers of defense and foreign affairs?
17. Whom would you like to see occupying the nation’s key official
posts, ministerial or otherwise?
18. Are you prepared to work together with the current National
Assembly, or do you believe that it needs to be dissolved?
19. Which one of the other eight presidential candidates do you trust
the most, and whose political vision do you share the most?
20. Is there a chance that you might withdraw your candidacy before
election day? If yes, which other presidential contender will you then
support?
21. Which are your principal virtues and shortcomings?
22. Do you believe that Armenian citizens have the guaranteed right to
ask these questions of you and to receive answers?

Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land.
Its central office is located at 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002,
Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 536.913, fax at (374-10)
532.697, email at office@heritage.am or info@heritage.am, and website
at