SARKISIAN RESPONDS TO ‘MALICIOUS’ TER-PETROSIAN ATTACKS
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Jan 25 2008

Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian pledged to turn Armenia into a
"brilliant country" and responded to intensifying verbal attacks from
former President Levon Ter-Petrosian as he took his election campaign
to Yerevan on Friday.

Sarkisian spent a large part of his speech at a campaign rally in the
city’s northern Nor Nork suburb condemning the "malicious" discourse
of his most bitter opposition challenger.

"But I am asking you not to succumb to provocations, not to respond
to malice with malice because our aim is not just to garner many
votes," he told several hundred people who gathered in front of a
local church. "Our aim is to move Armenia forward after the elections
… It is never possible to do good things with malice."

Although Sarkisian did not mention Ter-Petrosian by name, the remarks
were a clear response to the ex-president’s toughening anti-government
rhetoric. Campaigning in the central Kotayk region on Thursday,
Ter-Petrosian compared the prime minister to Lavrenti Beria, Joseph
Stalin’s notorious security chief, and alleged that Sarkisian will
provoke another war with Azerbaijan if wins the upcoming presidential
election. He also implicitly accused Sarkisian and outgoing President
Robert Kocharian of masterminding the 1999 terrorist attack on the
Armenian parliament.

Sarkisian, who prayed in the church before addressing the crowd,
portrayed such allegations as a sign of growing "panic" reigning in
the Ter-Petrosian camp. He also responded to Ter-Petrosian’s claims
that he is "begging" Armenians to vote for him.

"I am never averse to appealing to my people and telling them that
I need their votes," said Sarkisian. "Others may say this is vote
begging. Of course, I ask [for votes.] I don’t find it offensive to
ask my people."

"One must not turn their own ambitions into a way of life. It is
inadmissible to act against the country’s interests for the sake of
false personal authority," he added.

In what has become a pattern, Sarkisian’s speech came mid-way through
a concert by Armenian pop starts supporting his presidential bid, and
there were no other political figures speaking at the gathering. And
as was the case in Sarkisian’s previous campaign events, many in
the crowd were medical workers, school and kindergarten teachers and
other public sector employees as well as scores of schoolchildren.

Some of them held up Sarkisian’s campaign posters.

The Armenian premier assured them that he will ensure a significant
rise in living standards if he becomes the country’s next president.

"I assure you that Armenia will be a brilliant country," he said.

"There are all the grounds to assert that we will live in a totally
different country five years later."

Not everyone was convinced, though. "I will make up my mind before
February 19," said one woman.

"It’s hard to say which candidate is the best and which candidate is
the worst," said another participant of the rally. "I don’t know who
I will vote for."