IF SERGE SARGSYAN "GIVES" YEREVAN TO THE OPPOSITION HE WILL MAKE THE STATE STRONGER
ARMAN GALOYAN
LRAGIR.AM
17:08:52 – 26/05/2009
Interview with the coordinator of the Social Democratic Hnchakyan
Party Lyudmila Sargsyan
– You are probably aware of the "case of seven" as it was called
before. You know that the witnesses, who gave testimonies against the
political prisoners, state that those testimonies were seized from them
with the help of violence and now they are stating completely different
things at the courtroom. What would you say in this connection?
– This case was a balloon. The government understands it very
well. This is the reason why they separated the cases for the court
hearings to be held separately. Nevertheless, it is seen that they
will not be able to make any verdict with these criminal accusations
because they are not able to find anything against the political
prisoners. Those, who come and refute their preliminary testimonies
regardless violence, are to be honored. I think that the office of
the prosecutor general appeared in a very miserable state. When
there is no criminal case and there is such a powerful movement,
it is evident that one day it will explode.
– You noted that the government is not able to make any verdict in
connection with these criminal cases. In this case what is the way out?
– I think there is only one way out from this situation. The president
has to declare an amnesty. There is no other alternative. If the
authorizes are smart and want to change anything to be able to
present themselves to the external world and to shape a positive
opinion about them in the home life, they have to declare an amnesty.
– So, may this create grounds for not taking up any punitive measures
against Armenia at the PACE June session and for the country not to
be monitored any more?
– I think the problem is not the PACE but their not knowing. They just
do not know what to do with these criminal cases. Let them examine the
case for other six months and what are they going to do after? There
are not witnesses or people who would confirm those accusations,
so the regime reached a deadlock. In order to save his reputation at
the PACE, Serge Sargsyan has to declare amnesty.
– Several days are left until the Yerevan Mayor election. Summing up
the mayoral electoral campaign, what conclusion can be made? Is the
Armenian National Congress satisfied with its electoral campaign and
the public moods?
– It is already time to make conclusions and I’m completely satisfied
with the HAK electoral campaign. We held meetings in each of the
communes of Yerevan. When we had just launched the campaign there
was not so much energy and enthusiasm among the public as we note
in the last week. The people’s enthusiasm shows that we have a
lot of votes. We held meeting in the yards too, we spoke to people
and answered their questions. And the society realizes what we are
struggling for and why to vote Levon Ter-Petrosyan. I can say that
unlike the HAK, the other political forces did not hold en electoral
campaign. Some kind of exception may be considered the Bargavach
Hayastan party, the electoral campaign of which was a little alike to
that of the HAK. But it is understandable that unlike the BHK meetings,
people attend those of the HAK voluntarily.
– Usually, the real results of the election and the figures published
by the Central Electoral Commission do not have anything in common
with each other. If the government tries to rig the elections this
time too, how is the opposition going to struggle against it?
– Electoral breaches are the only weapon the government tries to
use. Let us see what the Republican Party is doing today. Nothing
at all. During the presidential election, they held a very big
electoral campaign; they spent a lot of money and understood that
nevertheless they do not have votes. And, they made Serge Sargsyan
win the election with the help of electoral breaches. They came to
conclusions, and now they set hopes only on electoral breaches. Here
there is another problem, the BHK struggles for the majority of votes
too. It is seen that these two parties have serious disagreements. In
case of the presidential election, it was difficult for the opposition
to control the election all over the country; in this case, we will
concentrate our power only in Yerevan. And, in case the government
takes up rough measures this will completely break the rating of
Armenia in the world. This is the only and the best opportunity for
Serge Sargsyan to try to win legitimacy.
If he realizes this fact and "gives" the city to the opposition, in
other words, if he does not make breaches and lets the opposite win,
he will make our state stronger.
– You noted that the BHK will try to get the majority of votes. There
have already been clashes between the representatives of these two
parties. Do you think they really have disagreements or these are
only imitations?
– Levon Ter-Petrosyan, at one of the oppositional rallies, stated that
these clashes are just imitations, and are made in order to create a
criminal state in the country, which would serve the ground to postpone
the election. I don’t rule out this kind of scenario. But there is a
second version too. These clashes are not imitations but they do not
try to repress them because they are expedient for both of the sides.
– What do you think will the BHK and the Republicans clash on the
day of the elections too?
– I think that the BHK leads its electoral campaign with one aim to
prove to the Republican Party that it has a huge army of voters. Of
course, the BHK does it, realizing that those are not votes for a
victory. The BHK struggles for equality of breaches: As much, they are
going to make breaches for the Republican as much the BHK wants. I do
not rule out that there may be clashes, which, unfortunately, will
be expedient for the opposition. In this case, it will be difficult
to rig.
– The ARF Dashnaktsutyun, before the election, left the coalition and
became opposition. What do you think, will the Dashnaktsutyun be able
to be an alternative for the Armenian National Congress?
– I think that it is even ridiculous to think about it. I don’t want
to say anything bad about the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, but we all saw how
the Dashnaktsutyun became opposition before each election. Though, it
is strange, that after becoming opposition and leaving the coalition
the Dashnaktsutyun is not ready to struggle against Serge Sargsyan’s
actions and policy, which he leads in connection with Turkey. They
have to prove that they are struggling for the future of Armenia. So,
I think that today the political force, which would be able to compete
with the HAK, lacks.