SARKISIAN VOWS INCREASED PROSPERITY ON FIRST CAMPAIGN TRIP
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Jan 22 2008

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian kicked off his election campaign with
a trip to the southern Vayots Dzor region on Tuesday, saying that
Armenians will see their living standards improve dramatically if
they pick him as their next president.

Meeting with local residents, Sarkisian pledged to help double
household incomes in the country within five years in the event of
his victory in next month’s presidential election.

"I am not talking about those people who have accumulated 10, 20,
30 or 50 million dollars in the last 16 years," he told a small
crowd that gathered in the local resort town of Jermuk. "They will
not necessarily manage to double their fortunes."

"But that pensions, wages and all other social expenditures, our GDP
and state budget will double [by 2012] is beyond doubt," he said in
a speech that followed a concert staged by some of Armenia’s best
known pop singers.

Free pop concerts were similarly part of campaign rallies organized
by Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) during campaigning
for the May 2007 parliamentary elections.

In his speech, Sarkisian also stressed the importance of the proper
conduct of the upcoming presidential election, saying that it must
be more democratic than the legislative polls, which were positively
evaluated by international observers but rejected as fraudulent by
the Armenian opposition.

"As you will recall, it snowed and rained here during the parliamentary
elections," he said. "Now it’s sunny. The difference between these
and the last elections must be just like that."

Armenia’s next president must have undisputed legitimacy both at home
and abroad in order to successfully deal with challengers facing the
country, he added.

The prime minister, who enjoys the backing of outgoing President Robert
Kocharian, sounded confident about his electoral chances but would
not say if he expects to win the ballot outright in the first round
of voting. "I am deeply convinced that you will make your choice not
on the basis of this meeting," he said. "I’m sure that many of you
made your choice one or one-and-a-half months ago."

While in Jermuk, which is home to Armenia’s most famous its spa
resorts, Sarkisian also attended the inauguration of a new mineral
water bottling plant. He campaigned in other Vayots Dzor earlier on
Tuesday and is scheduled to take his campaign to the southeastern
Syunik region on Wednesday.