COULD BE FATAL FOR ARMENIA

A1+
06:26 pm | April 17, 2009

Politics

Leader of the "Heritage" party Raffi Hovhannisyan is going to
follow-up very closely on the upcoming Yerevan city council elections,
including the speeches and approaches of opposition and pro-government
candidates. Raffi Hovhannisyan will make a selection with conscience
and under guidance of the "Heritage" party’s exhort.

"A1+" asked Hovhannisyan if the "Heritage" is going to take part
in the campaign of the opposition, that is, the Armenian National
Congress. In response to that, Hovhannisyan said that the party
administration has not made such a decision, yet party members are
free to decide for themselves.

Why doesn’t "Heritage" trust its seats in the electoral commission to
the ANC? In response, Hovhannisyan said: "We value the importance of
the democratic electoral process and must respond to the imperative
for public control. We are also part of the opposition and are not
the only one. We will fulfill our civil duty in terms of securing the
control by calling on the public to support the opposition on May 31,"
said the party leader.

Hovhannisyan weighed in on the the Turkish-Armenian "football
diplomacy" and drew comparisons with the Chinese-American "ping-pong"
diplomacy.

"This is the continuation of the Chinese-American precedent. The
only difference is that it was symmetrical, but the Turkish-Armenian
diplomacy is asymmetrical. One side has lost its lands, while the other
continues its disavowal. I don’t know what the Armenian authorities
are putting on the agenda, but we have to make it symmetrical again,"
said Hovhannisyan.

He stated that the signing of a document with Turkey may be fatal for
Armenia and called on Armenian authorities to understand the gravity
of the situation.

"I think that the time is near. The prime minister of our neighboring
country has made a statement and Armenia must try to keep its
balance. It is clear for everyone that we can do that in the case
of having legitimate authorities whom the people trust," said Raffi
Hovhannisyan.

The restoration of faith and trust is needed in order to establish
democracy, release political prisoners and secure freedom of speech
in the country.

Will U.S. President Barack Obama say the word "genocide" in his April
24 address? Raffi Hovhannisyan had this to say to that:

"We lost a homeland, an entire civilization. It would be nice if the
U.S. President used the term. But who am I to ask, beg or threaten
him to use it. It is up to him to decide as a representative of
American integrity. I think that he should also think about that,"
said Raffi Hovhannisyan.