An interview by the press-secretary of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, deputy of the National Assembly, Eduard Sharmazanov.
- How does the Republican Party explain the reasons for the Armenian President's refusal to go to the NATO summit in Lisbon?
- Is it possible to develop specific measures to achieve agreement on the conflict between the parties, as well as the emergence of possibilities of a compromise during the forthcoming OSCE summit in
Astana?
- I do not think that the Lisbon scenario will repeat itself at the OSCE summit in Astana, but I am almost convinced that either an oral or a written statement will be issued at the summit once again, declaring the willingness of the OSCE co-chairs and all the OSCE countries to promote the settlement of the Karabakh conflict solely on the basis of the three principles. For Armenia, in this instance, the revitalization of Russia is very important, as President Medvedev, during his visit to Armenia and during the visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to Moscow, stressed the infallibility of a balanced position of Russia on this issue. According to the National Assembly, a full Karabakh conflict settlement will be possible only when Nagorno-Karabakh becomes a fully-fledged side. This is supported in the first place by four UN Security Council resolutions, which Baku tends to refer to. Accordingly, the fate of Karabakh can be solved only by its people, while Armenia is only the mouthpiece of its will and interests and the guarantor of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh. Accordingly, we do not expect radical changes in the Karabakh settlement, neither at the summit in Astana, nor during any other meetings, primarily based on the position of Azerbaijan.
- The leader of the "Prosperous Armenia" party, Gagik Tsarukyan, has already announced his intention to nominate their candidate for the presidential elections, if his party receives 50% + 1 vote in the upcoming elections to the National Assembly in 2012. Can you assess the chances of the Republican Party of Armenia?
- It's a poor party which does not seek to gain a parliamentary majority, but objective conditions are necessary to substantiate any such claim. If, for the majority of Armenian political parties, it all ends at the level of aspirations, the real facts in the form of our convincing victories, in the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2007 and 2008, show a different picture. We have an absolute parliamentary majority, leaving behind "Prosperous Armenia" and the ANC. In the past year Republican Party candidates won the elections in 75 out of 100 communities in Armenia. Therefore, to date, I do not see any other force that has a chance of winning an absolute majority of the electorate besides Republican Armenia and, accordingly, the right to form a government. Polls and research on this topic confirm this. At the same time, I'm not going to and cannot comment on the chances
of "Prosperous Armenia", since each party is entitled to draw conclusions for itself.
- The ANC continues to argue that Armenia will still hold early parliamentary elections. What is the basis for their confidence?
- I do not think it will last long. For this, at the very least they will have to withdraw from the ANC the head of the election headquarters, Levon Ter-Petrosian, and a former Foreign Minister, Alexander Arzoumanian, who continue to assert that Armenia has no preconditions for early elections at the moment. All of this suggests that, despite the disagreements within the ANC on the matter, even the Congress party members do not believe in holding early elections in Armenia. We have been hearing about the necessity for early elections since 2008, but they are objectively impossible, because such elections are not "a concert on demand." Early elections in any country are possible only in case of a force majeure situation, but in Armenia, thank God, there is no such situation, and it is not expected to appear. We did have difficulties with the political situation after the 2008 presidential election, but they are almost completely overcome. As for the economic crisis, after a drop in GDP of more than 14% in 2009, we will close this year with a few percentage points of growth in the economy. Therefore, by promising early elections to the people, the Congress party is doing it out of a need just to say something.
- How do you estimate the possibility of holding early elections, if an order for "a concert on demand" will come from outside?
- The Republican Party of Armenia, being a political force with a national mentality, will never permit the implementation of such a scenario. Moreover, at the moment I do not see any objective prerequisites for an order from outside on a color revolution in Armenia. At least, active contacts between the republic's leadership with both Russia and the West, as well as our well-balanced policy, prove the inadmissibility and the impossibility of a color revolution in Armenia. Do not forget that, ultimately, everything is decided by the people, in this case, by the Armenian people. In addition, while highly appreciating the "zeal" of our foreign partners with regard to Armenia, I will still note that, while implementing the democratic reforms, we are not trying to become attractive to someone, but because the democratization of society today is the only right way for the development of Armenia, being driven by the demand of our society. This is why the RPA has initiated these reforms as a parliamentary majority. I rule out the possibility of a "color revolution" in Armenia, as there are no objective prerequisites today, as well as because it is simply impossible to fall in the same river twice.
Interview by David Stepanyan, Armenia, exclusively for VK.
