VAZGEN MANUKYAN DOES NOT UNDERSTAND ARTASHES GEGHAMYAN
Largir
Sept 5 2007
Armenia
"What will the struggle in the presidential election be for?" The
leader of the NDU Vazgen Manukyan started the news conference on
September 5 at the Pastark press club with these words. "I think
there are more important issues than who the president will be,"
Vazgen Manukyan says. According to him, it is more important to
replace the model created in the past years. "What is this model?
There is a group of privileged people in the country who can run
businesses, illegal or legal, they enjoy privileges, they may even
commit murders and not be punished. They possess everything and they
pay back to the government during the election committing election
fraud and keeping them in power. In other words, it is a system where
there is no people, no society," Vazgen Manukyan says. According to
him, this system may develop like any other system.
"But there is something bad about it. First of all, it is not an
effective model, and it will set our country back all the time.
Second, it is not targeted at the needs of its citizens its people.
In Armenia people get an African salary, while the prices are
European," Vazgen Manukyan says. In his opinion, in this context the
notion of a common candidate acquires more than one meaning. "For
some people, it is a way to become the leader of this class within
this model. Or to modify this class, get their people into it, remove
some," Vazgen Manukyan says. He says some related judgments in the
political sphere are not clear to him. "I cannot understand Geghamyan
Artashes who says there are challenges and we and the government must
be one. What has changed since 2003 regarding the challenges? They
did not declare war on us. Why did we need to attack in 2003 and now
to try to find points in common? I cannot understand this, especially
when it does not help change the model," Vazgen Manukyan says.
He does not understand rumors about Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s nomination
either. "Levon Ter-Petrosyan is silent but I’m sure he will not be
named. But what are his proponents talking about all the time? They say
the elite want a new leader. And Levon Ter-Petrosyan could be their
leader, he can win, and we need to join him," Vazgen Manukyan says,
adding that it is a false judgment. What makes Vazgen Manukyan believe
that Levon Ter-Petrosyan will not be named is that Levon Ter-Petrosyan
does not need to. As to his relation with Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
he says they do not have personal problems despite rumors. There
was a moment in 1991-1992 but then they had no personal problems,
only disagreement over ideas, says the leader of the NDU.
He says he was against the model built by Levon Ter-Petrosyan.
As to the present model of government, Vazgen Manukyan thinks in
order to change it a civil movement is necessary. "If we run in
the election just so, the election will end up in the usual way,"
Vazgen Manukyan says. If this state of things continues, the series
of vague intrigues, a civil movement will not be able to replace the
country’s model, and Serge Sargsyan will become a legitimate president.