WHEN POLITICS BECOMES PROFITABLE BUSINESS
Vrezh Aharonyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
14 Nov 08
Armenia

The fact that the Ter-Petrosyan-led movement and different forces
supporting it carry out their activity chiefly due to the financial
resources imported from abroad is, unfortunately, a political reality
and may have disastrous consequences for our country. Certain western
circles legalize their sums through different channels, investing
them in the political processes of Armenia.

In this respect, quite an interesting chain is being created by
"Heritage" Party (leader Raffi Hovhannisyan) and the "Armenian
Centre of Strategic and National Research" (ASCNR), a non-governmental
organization which is headed by the same person. The activity they have
been carrying out over the recent years leads one to the conclusion
that the American-funded "Heritage" concentrates its resources in the
foundation of the "Armenian Centre of Strategic and National Research"
which serves as a donor for the party.

Let’s try to show how the existing mechanism works, based on the
example of Raiffi Hovhannisyan’s successive visit to Los Angeles on
October 11-29.

As reported by our sources in America, R. Hovhannisyan and the people
accompanying him organized the regular fundraising for the ACSNR during
their visit to the United States at the end of October and disguised
everything behind the veil of some receptions allegedly held on the
occasion of the 15th anniversary of the organization. In particular,
within the frameworks of the gathering organized on October 26 in
Los Angeles, in the hall of "Krikor and Marylyn Bzdikyans" center,
R. Hovhannisyan’s closest people organized a fundraising-celebration,
inviting around 300 people.

Furthermore, each couple was to pay 1000 US Dollars.

However, the amount of money to be paid for participating in
the celebration aroused discontent among the invitees, forcing
R. Hovhannisyan and his partners to reduce the sum to 500 US Dollars.

For making the celebration more presentable and influential,
R. Hovhannisyan invited not only well-known businessmen and benefactors
but also Armen Liloyan, Chief Consul of the Republic of Armenia in
Los Angeles. And the latter participated in the event (as to what
made a person carrying out a diplomatic mission participate in an
event not envisaged by the state protocol is unknown).

During the event, R. Hovhannisyan and his partners managed to collect
50 thousand US Dollars, and the sum was immediately moved to Armenia
for meeting the expenses of the ASCNR and "Heritage". In fact,
the leader of one of the native parliamentary parties is engaged
in shady fundraising with the help of different people who comply
with the instructions and orders of suspicious foreign political and
economic circles and donate sums to R. Hovhannisyan’s party. It’s
quite possible that they send political messages to R. Hovhannisyan
who is forced to carry them out through his own party.

After all this, there’s no need to be surprised by the fact that many
political forces and figures have nothing to do with Armenia or the
interests of the Armenian people, and in many cases, they act against
those interests, making politics a profitable business.