PROGRESS IS POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH DIALOGUE AND REFORM, SERGE SARGSYAN AND ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN SAY

armradio.am
17.03.2008 18:02

RA President-elect Serge Sargsyan and leader of the Orinats Yerkir"
(Rule of Law) Party Arthur Baghdasaryan published an article in The
Washington Post titled "Moving Forward in Armenia."

"The two of us were competitors in the presidential election. But we
are united in our desire to end the current crisis and put Armenia
back on track. Cooperation is the way forward.

The political alliance we have created, between the president-elect
and the Rule of Law Party, is an effort to do things democratically
and through compromise. Between us, we represent 70 percent of the
votes of the Armenian people. This is a serious and solid mandate. On
this basis, we will pursue ambitious but realistic reforms that will
strengthen our democracy and our nation’s socioeconomic progress. In
this moment of crisis, we have agreed to assume responsibility for
joint governance.

This form of government has not been imposed upon Armenia; we have
chosen it as the best way forward. This new, grand coalition will
guarantee that the people’s will is reflected.

We insist, however, that continued progress is possible only through
dialogue and reform. Violence has no place in democracy. Therefore,
we ask those who are still promoting instability on the streets
to join us in political dialogue and to help us guide our country
toward prosperity.

Armenia faces a series of external challenges that we hope to
address. First among them is the long-standing conflict over who should
control the Nagorno-Karabakh region between our country and Azerbaijan;
second is the normalization of relations with Turkey. Only a government
with wide popular support, not one created through street violence,
can successfully resolve these problems. We will also continue to
ask the international community to recognize the Armenian genocide,
though this issue should not prevent us from moving forward," Serge
Sargsyan and Arthur Baghdasaryan write in the article.