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  • 100 Days Of Prsesidency

    100 DAYS OF PRSESIDENCY
    Lilit Poghosyan

    Hayots Ashkhar Daily
    Published on July 18, 2008
    Armenia

    The 19th of July is the 100th day of President Serge Sargsyan's tenure,
    and even though this period of time is very short for speaking about
    the implementation of the programs envisaged for the upcoming 5 years,
    let's try to give a summary of the accomplishments and the political
    steps that were undertaken prior to the realization of the President's
    pre-electoral promises.

    In his inauguration speech, Serge Sargsyan reiterated all the
    commitments he had voiced during the post-electoral rally held
    on the Republican Square, lending a hand to his political rivals,
    proposing them a dialogue and cooperation for joining their efforts to
    overcome the internal and external challenges faced by the country and
    demonstrate consistency in solving the pan-national and state problems.

    After assuming the duties of President, Serge Sargsyan (true to the
    commitment to consolidate the capable forces of society) undertook
    consistent steps towards the implementation of the principles and
    top priorities enshrined in the Memorandum of Coalition, dated March
    4. The Memorandum was signed with "Rule of Law" and Dashnaktsutyun
    parties which had responded to the cooperation proposal advanced by
    the Republican and "Prosperous Armenia".

    In particular, the President issued a decree on setting up a
    working group20with the purpose of restoring the atmosphere of public
    solidarity which had been undermined as a result of the post-electoral
    developments.

    The mission of the committee was to specify the activities envisaged by
    PACE Resolution # 1609 and display consistency in their implementation.

    Let's note that these were not steps imposed by foreign structures,
    e.g.

    the Council of Europe in this particular case. These were steps
    deriving from the "letter and spirit" of the Memorandum of Coalition.

    Moreover, the CoE Resolution mainly seconded the commitments undertaken
    by the coalition partners at their own will.

    In the context of the activities elaborated by the working group,
    an interim parliamentary committee was set up with the purpose of
    conducting a thorough investigation of the March 1-2 events and
    submitting proposals that would rule out the repetition of the tragedy.

    On June 13, Serge Sargsyan signed a decree on setting up a Public
    Chamber under the President. Under another decree, a committee
    coordinating the preparatory work of this body was established. The
    mission of the committee is to submit to the President its approaches
    towards the staff and the regulations within a period of 3 months.

    Even if the "radical" representatives of the extra-parliamentary
    opposition persist in avoiding a dialogue, refusing to participate in
    the activities of the NA interim committee and the Public Chamber,
    such 0Ainitiatives will serve as grounds for uniting the potentials
    of the influential public and political organizations and individuals
    and contributing to the solution of the problems which are of vital
    importance for society.

    In the sphere of foreign policy, the 100-day period was marked by the
    Sargsyan-Aliev meeting held in St. Petersburg. After the presidential
    elections this was the first attempt of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
    dialogue on the level of Presidents. During the meeting, the parties
    agreed to continue the Karabakh settlement talks within the frameworks
    of the Madrid proposals, i.e. following the format of the Minsk Group.

    On June 23, Serge Sargsyan paid his first official visit abroad,
    beginning the agenda of the high-level interstate meetings with
    Russia, our strategic ally. Within the frameworks of his three-day
    visit, the RA President met with the newly elected Russian President
    Dmitry Medvedev, newly-appointed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and
    other senior officials. As a result, the parties reiterated their
    determination in developing and strengthening the bilateral relations
    in different directions, replenishing them with political and economic
    elements.

    The President's visit to Russia was also marked with the bald
    accentuations on improving the Armenian-Turkish relations. "Our
    attitude is clear: neighboring states should not have closed borders
    in the 21st century. Regional cooperation may be the only tool
    for esta blishing stability. The Turkish side offers us to set up a
    committee studying the historical facts. We are not against the idea,
    but this will happen only in case the border between our states is
    opened. Otherwise, it may become a tool for postponing and speculating
    the discussion of the issue for many years.

    The President's statement gave way to inappropriate speculations;
    however, the further clarifications made it clear that the fact of
    the Genocide is not subject to speculations, and the Armenian side's
    attitude towards achieving the recognition of the first mass atrocity
    against humanity remains unchanged.

    Notwithstanding this, the President decided to make the first step
    towards promoting the Armenian-Turkish relations and invited Turkish
    President Abdullah Gyul to Armenia "for watching the football match
    between the representative teams of Armenia and Turkey together." This
    aroused strong interests and responses in the international diplomatic
    circles.

    Regardless whether the Turkish President will accept the invitation
    or turn it down, yielding to the blackmail tactics of Azerbaijan,
    the ball is in the enemy's playground. And it rests with us to arm
    ourselves with patience and wait for the outcomes of the President's
    100-day activity.
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