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:
22 February 2008
Liberty Square: Raffi Hovannisian Addresses the Nation
Friends and Fellow Citizens:
This historic arena for the exercise of our national liberty will, no
doubt, ultimately host the realization of our individual and
collective rights. And it shall do so not only by attaining the crest
of this soaring spirit of our national unity, but also through the
adoption of precise and objective assessments and measured vocabulary.
Which man, whether standing on this platform, or among the people, or
even among those who are not here, has not committed mistakes in his
lifetime? But no one person can become the proprietor of the vote
which is the fruit of the Armenian people’s God-given freedom to
choose.
Several days ago, we marked the 20th anniversary of the formal
launching of Artsakh’s quest for liberty. A few days on, we will honor
for the twentieth time the memory of the victims of the ensuing
pogroms in Sumgait. It was our national unity, radiating from these
very steps to Stepanakert and every faraway frontier, which led us to
victory. Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan was present. We
can never forget the contributions of Vazgen Sargsyan, the Sparapet or
Supreme Commander, our valiant commanders, generals, and all of our
ministers of defense. Thousands of brave Armenian men and women–the
yerkrabah volunteers, members of the Armenian National Movement, the
Republican Party, the Dashnaktsutiun, Communists, as well as those
with no party affiliation–sacrificed their lives to liberate Artsakh
>From its darkest day. Persons combined into people, and today’s
triumph will undoubtedly be forged again if the people comes together
and forms one will and one fist.
Let us now pause for a minute of silence and solidarity to salute the
memory of our fallen heroes–the commanders-in-chief, the officers,
and the countless rank-and-file Armenians–who delivered our unified
heritage to their descendants and who, in the name of homeland, faith,
and freedom, put their lives on the altar of service and
self-sacrifice.
This commemoration also belongs to the current prime minister, who
likewise has played a worthy part in Artsakh’s liberation movement.
Now, however, he finds himself before the most crucial watershed of
his life. He has spoken about righteousness and publicly sought
forgiveness for the wrongs committed over the past seventeen years.
This is a fine quality indeed, but there is no need to announce that
only the strong are capable of repenting. The strength of asking
forgiveness does not lie in mere pre-election promise but in
post-election action. It speaks to a person’s example and ethics and
his honest readiness to conduct his own atonement, which is truly a
high human value. Serzh Sargsyan knows better than anyone that
thousands of Armenians are deprived of their rights in their own
country and that citizens and public figures are continually pursued
and persecuted because of their convictions. He knows that the vote
has been forged. He knows also that the inalienable rights of free
expression and free elections have been confiscated from the people.
He must ask himself these questions: Is this the victory that he saw
for himself and deserves? Are these the elections by which the
legitimate president of a legitimate republic will come to office? And
is it possible to receive the people’s vote of confidence by means of
ballot-stuffing, violence, fraud, and other documented violations of
the law? He must overcome the briefings of his advisers, agents, and
other whisperers. He must rise above the mind-numbing sycophancy that
surrounds him and finally return to the source of his noble deeds in
the name of Armenia and Artsakh. This, perhaps, is his gravest test.
As for us, dear compatriots, we are all victors here today. The
national struggle for the achievement of civic will, political
commitment, and the realization of rights has come to fruition in
Armenia. You have proved that you really are the masters of our vote,
our triumph, and our country.
We are joined together by the imperative for giving a brand new
meaning to the legacy of our past, including both its accomplishments
and its shortfalls, and by the abiding need firmly to place our
nation’s future upon the true path of progress. And Levon
Ter-Petrosyan has become the principal spokesman for that great return
toward the future.
I assure you that, as always, the Heritage Party–from its humble
beginnings until the day we strike justice and even after the
formation of a new government–will not aspire to this platform and
will instead stand amongst the people, right from the first row all
the way out to the last. Together we will form that collective
conscience, equilibrium, and backbone which will never again allow the
shameful stealing of elections or the violation of Armenian rights at
home or abroad. We will see to it that from now on nobody, either from
within the country or from outside, will dare to accost or cast into
doubt the sovereignty of the Armenian state, our national interests,
and the liberty and dignity of each and every citizen.
Because above and beyond the individual names, slogans, political
parties, and titles that are echoed on this square, there reigns a
universal love, a God-given creed, a mission of heritage, and a
majestic value–Our Homeland–which belongs to all of us and whose
name today, and for all eternity, is Hayastan.
Hayastan! Hayastan! Hayastan!
Raffi K. Hovannisian
February 22, 2008
Yerevan
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