SARGSYAN: EVERYBODY HAS ROLE IN THIS PROCESS

Panorama.am
17:29 06/10/2009

The deputy chief of staff of Armenian President’s Administration Vigen
Sargsyan met with the journalists to make President’s pan-Armenian
tour and its mission clear.

"All the view points of the Diaspora representatives and the
President’s responses have been heard. Although the discussions were
behind closed doors, public did not lack information as both the
President and Diaspora representatives shared their view points
with mass media. There were different points of view, which is
natural. It is important to view the tour within the formats that
President has pointed; the mission was not to make everybody join
round one definite opinion. And the matter was not either to check
what percent of Diaspora was against and for. The matter was to hear
different points of view, advices and to take them into account
when making decisions. Those decisions demand political will and
political responsibility and are made by the appropriate bodies of
the state. Regarding the Republic of Armenia, those international
agreements suppose diplomatic negotiations, signing, ratification
by the National Assembly, and finally, they should be signed by the
President. Hence, everybody has its own role in this process and the
matter was not to hold a referendum or a poll. The most important
was to hear different points to get one combined image of opinions."

Vigen Sargsyan noted that the President’s next stop is Beirut, where
he will have a meeting with the representatives of Near East Armenians.

"We differentiate the mission and the intention of the tour. It is
though Armenian people have a state of 3 million Armenians, we have
a Diaspora of 7 million Armenians. And our mission was to found a
new political custom – when issues having pan-national significance
are discussed within the state, public discussions should be held
out of Armenian borders. I am sure this format could be used in the
future as well by the President, FM, PM, Diaspora Minister, etc,"
deputy chief of staff said.