ZHARANGUTIUN SUPPORTS LEVON TER-PETROSIAN

Noyan Tapan
Feb 12, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The Zharangutiun (Heritage) party
headed by Raffi Hovhannisian will support the candidature of Levon
Ter-Petrosian in the February 19 presidential elections. This decision
was made on February 12 as a result of the long-lasting sitting of the
administration of the party held late in the evening by the simple
majority of votes of the nine members of the administration. This
statement was made by Hovsep Khurshudian, the party spokesman of
Zharangutiun, and Vardan Khachatrian, the Secretary of the party,
at the press conference held on February 12.

According to them, the party is calling to all its members and
supporters for voting for Levon Ter-Petrosian, the first President
of the Republic of Armenia, on February 19. The party is also calling
to all the citizens of Armenia for going to the election, exercising
their civil right and not being bribed, as well as standing for their
votes with all the legal means after the election.

It was also mentioned at the conference that negotiations with
four candidates running for presidency were held before that: the
support probability concerned four candidates: Vazgen Manukian, Levon
Ter-Petrosian, Arthur Baghdasarian, and Vahan Hovhannisian. However,
supporting Levon Ter-Petrosian, according to V. KHachatrian, is not a
result of a negotiation, but a step of generalization. In addition to
this, according to V. Khachatrian, that decision was contributed by
the circumstance that Levon Ter-Petrosian is currently the candidate,
who, perhaps enjoys the widest popularity, about which speak his
crowded rallies. In the words of H.

Khurshudian, the fact that the authorities submit the very Levon
Ter-Petrosian to an unprecedented and total criticism speaks about
the fact that he, perhaps, has a resource for implementing shift of
power and system change in the country.

Vardan Khachatrian and Hovsep Khurshudian stated that they have no
expectations concerning receiving any part of the authorities after
the shift of power and they have deliberately removed that question in
order to avoid speculations. "The most important expectation the party
has is the same as society’s: system changes," H. Khurshudian said. And
V. Khachatrian mentioned that irrespective of the call of Zharangutiun
to vote for Levon Ter-Petrosian, not all the questions have been
settled. For example, Zharangutiun wants Levon Ter-Petrosian to give
a thorough answer concerning the regulation of the Karabakh issue.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress