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HERITAGE PARTY COUNCIL ADOPTS RESOLUTION
Aysor.am
Monday,March 14
Yesterday, on March 13, the Heritage Party convened a plenary
session of its republic-wide Council. Aside from the Council's
members-including the Executive Board members who are ex officio
members of the Council-members of Heritage's parliamentary faction
and leaders of the party's 39 regional divisions also attended the
meeting. In connection with the current state of affairs in Armenia,
the Council adopted a resolution which is presented below, provided
by the party press office.
RESOLUTION OF THE HERITAGE PARTY COUNCIL
Attesting to the Heritage Party's persistent efforts over the
years-throughout the Republic, at parliament, and within international
circles-in defense of Armenia's national and state interests and the
protection of civil rights;
Evaluating Heritage's commitment to help solve the individual,
collective, and societal problems of our fellow countrymen;
Considering that the party's initiatives toward resolving the great
majority of those problems have not even being brought onto the
agendas of national bodies-and of the parliament in the first place;
Underscoring that the agendas of the legislative, executive,
and judicial branches of power still do not reflect the foreign
and domestic demands and legitimate expectations of the citizens of
Armenia and of the Armenian people, and that the current foreign policy
continually surrenders our state sovereignty and national interests
while domestic policy further deepens inequality, unlawfulness,
injustice and the resulting emigration;
Registering that, having confused the presidential seat and state
duty with political party offices and functions, the leaders of
the three ruling coalition parties signed, on 17 February 2011,
an unconstitutional and undemocratic memorandum which, instead of
responding to the nation's immediate challenges, simply betrays
the chief party leader's and the aforementioned forces' intention
to seize-for seven more years and with the very same composition
and ratio-the power that actually belongs to the people, which has
created a qualitatively new situation in the country;
Regarding as justified the Heritage parliamentary faction's protest
against the foregoing realities and their untoward prospects which
it manifested at the National Assembly on 28 February, sounding an
alarm for the body politic and a battlecry for mastery of its rights;
The plenary session of the Heritage Party's republic-wide Council
declares that the emergency situation created in the country presumes
emergency solutions and, in accordance with which and in order to
guard the country against the inevitable precipice, hereby decides:
1. To achieve, by all possible means-from the podium of the National
Assembly to the public squares-a legitimate and pre-term formation
of all branches of power in the Republic.
2. To define as the priorities for those new authorities which are
anchored in the Constitution, the rule of rights, and vital national
interests:
2.1 The imperative of securing free and fair elections, legitimate
procedures and results and therefore legitimate authorities. In
particular, this requirement should be carried out on the basis of
the draft Electoral Code prepared by the Heritage Party and by way
of guaranteeing equality of all electoral conditions; formation of
balanced election commissions; transparency of the lists of voters
who have actually cast their ballots; and video recording of the
election process.
2.2 The decoupling from government of oligarchs and of all other
big business; the complete dismantling of artificial monopolies; the
exposing of, and subsequently a full legal accounting for, any and
all abuses of office and conflicts of interest at all levels of the
administration-beginning with the presidency-pursued for personal,
familial, or political party gain.
2.3 In this connection, the assurance that the abovementioned large
economic actors, having been decoupled from government, discharge
their tax obligations to the state; a correspondent sharp increase
in the state budget by means of collecting the superprofits of
the several businessmen who have attained them as a result of the
artificial inflation that has been registered in the years past;
and owing to this budget growth, a marked rise in the minimum wage,
pensions, unemployment and other benefits, and thus the mitigation
of social tension and polarization.
2.4 Based upon legislation to be adopted at the National Assembly,
the ruling out of undue big-business influence, inadmissibility
of members of parliament who are at once active entrepreneurs, and
dismissal of officials who pursue private interests.
2.5 The adoption and subsequent implementation of simplified tax laws
that grant tax breaks for small- and medium-size enterprises and guard
the business domain against the tax terror and arbitrariness of state.
2.6 The exposing of, and subsequently a full legal accounting for,
any and all unlawful and unrightful actions taken in connection with
the great crime that was committed on 1-2 March 2008 and thereafter.
2.7 The guarantee of the fundamental rights of free speech, freedom
of movement, and freedom of assembly and protest, and the bringing
to justice of those officials who violate such rights.
2.8 The release of political prisoners and those who are arrested on
political motives, and the bringing to justice of those judges who have
"legalized" political persecution.
2.9 The achievement of judicial independence, including compensation-on
the account of the judge's personal property and possessions-for
the damages caused to citizens who have suffered as a result of a
clearly unjust ruling issued by the given judge. 2.10 The execution
of fundamental reforms in the law enforcement system, including the
bringing to justice of those officials and officers who have carried
out violations against citizens and members of parliament.
2.11 The rearmament and modernization of the Armenian national
army by reference to best international practices, improvement of
the system of civil defense, achievement of civilian control over
the armed forces, uncovering of the circumstances behind the deaths
of military servicemen who have been killed in times of peace, and
the bringing to justice of those army commanders and officials who
unlawfully drew the army into politics on 1-2 March 2008.
2.12 The execution of fundamental reforms in the national security
system and its branches, exposing of those agents who are, or have
been, collaborating with the special services of other countries, and
the depoliticization of the National Security Service and clarification
of its functions.
2.13 The immediate development and subsequent implementation of a
national strategy to prevent the impending demographic disaster. This
strategy must include, inter alia, the creation of special and
privileged social and economic conditions for local residents so as
to prevent in particular the border and high-mountainous regions from
losing their human resources.
2.14 The ecologically safe and lawfully sound extraction of the
earth's minerals, which are national property, and the allotment
of a reasonable share of the relevant profits to the state budget,
termination of old and new projects that presuppose irreparable
environmental damage, and the launching of criminal cases and lawsuits
in connection with unlawful activities.
2.15 The declaration null and void of those normative acts (widespread
encroachment upon the right to property, prohibition of street vending;
mandatory automobile insurance, unsubstantiated high customs duties
for vehicles that are registered in Georgia, exploitation of certain
unsafe mines, etc.) which have been carried out by different branches
of government in contravention of the fundamental provisions, spirit,
and criteria of the Armenian Constitution-and thus of the rights of
different societal classes-and compensation for the damages caused
to the state and its citizens.
2.16 The subsidization of agricultural enterprises and specifically
of small farms and of factories that process agricultural products,
and the resultant increase in the level of Armenia's self-sufficiency
and food security.
2.17 The fundamental stimulation of advanced science and quality
education, creation of privileged conditions for scientists and
scholars, including the youth, depoliticization of educational
establishments and hence the removal of incumbent high-level state
officials from university boards.
2.18 The conduct of public education that is anchored in the Armenian
language, together with a sharp increase in the quality of teaching
foreign languages and cultures, encouragement of the profession of
translation and interpretation, with the realization of translations of
benchmark international textbooks and scholarly works for university
application as well as the rendering into Armenian of international
project and program guidelines.
2.19 The withdrawal from the National Assembly's agenda of the
Armenian-Turkish "protocols," which debase national dignity, as well
as the adoption and subsequent fulfillment of a national program for
the mastery and resettlement of the Homeland.
2.20 Armenia's and the international community's recognition of the
Republic of Mountainous Karabakh (Artsakh) within its legally-defined
boundaries and as established in full compliance with the precepts
of international law, the provision of nationwide solidarity to
the process of settlement in the areas that have been reunited with
Artsakh, acknowledgment as genocide of Azerbaijan's actions taken
against the Armenians of eastern Transcaucasia, and in sum formal
rejection of the "Madrid Proposals."
2.21 Accomplishment of the full potential of Homeland-Diaspora unity
on the basis of the Constitution and a legal foundation for mutual
relations.
3. In this light, to convene a special congress of the Heritage Party
during the instant calendar year as specified by the chairman of the
party's Executive Board.
Tomorrow, on March 15, the Heritage Party will convene a public
assembly to which Heritage Party chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian
will deliver his keynote address. The event will be held, at 3pm,
in the hall of the Hamazgayin Theater, located at 26 Amirian Street
(the State Theater and Film Institute) in Yerevan.
From: A. Papazian
Aysor.am
Monday,March 14
Yesterday, on March 13, the Heritage Party convened a plenary
session of its republic-wide Council. Aside from the Council's
members-including the Executive Board members who are ex officio
members of the Council-members of Heritage's parliamentary faction
and leaders of the party's 39 regional divisions also attended the
meeting. In connection with the current state of affairs in Armenia,
the Council adopted a resolution which is presented below, provided
by the party press office.
RESOLUTION OF THE HERITAGE PARTY COUNCIL
Attesting to the Heritage Party's persistent efforts over the
years-throughout the Republic, at parliament, and within international
circles-in defense of Armenia's national and state interests and the
protection of civil rights;
Evaluating Heritage's commitment to help solve the individual,
collective, and societal problems of our fellow countrymen;
Considering that the party's initiatives toward resolving the great
majority of those problems have not even being brought onto the
agendas of national bodies-and of the parliament in the first place;
Underscoring that the agendas of the legislative, executive,
and judicial branches of power still do not reflect the foreign
and domestic demands and legitimate expectations of the citizens of
Armenia and of the Armenian people, and that the current foreign policy
continually surrenders our state sovereignty and national interests
while domestic policy further deepens inequality, unlawfulness,
injustice and the resulting emigration;
Registering that, having confused the presidential seat and state
duty with political party offices and functions, the leaders of
the three ruling coalition parties signed, on 17 February 2011,
an unconstitutional and undemocratic memorandum which, instead of
responding to the nation's immediate challenges, simply betrays
the chief party leader's and the aforementioned forces' intention
to seize-for seven more years and with the very same composition
and ratio-the power that actually belongs to the people, which has
created a qualitatively new situation in the country;
Regarding as justified the Heritage parliamentary faction's protest
against the foregoing realities and their untoward prospects which
it manifested at the National Assembly on 28 February, sounding an
alarm for the body politic and a battlecry for mastery of its rights;
The plenary session of the Heritage Party's republic-wide Council
declares that the emergency situation created in the country presumes
emergency solutions and, in accordance with which and in order to
guard the country against the inevitable precipice, hereby decides:
1. To achieve, by all possible means-from the podium of the National
Assembly to the public squares-a legitimate and pre-term formation
of all branches of power in the Republic.
2. To define as the priorities for those new authorities which are
anchored in the Constitution, the rule of rights, and vital national
interests:
2.1 The imperative of securing free and fair elections, legitimate
procedures and results and therefore legitimate authorities. In
particular, this requirement should be carried out on the basis of
the draft Electoral Code prepared by the Heritage Party and by way
of guaranteeing equality of all electoral conditions; formation of
balanced election commissions; transparency of the lists of voters
who have actually cast their ballots; and video recording of the
election process.
2.2 The decoupling from government of oligarchs and of all other
big business; the complete dismantling of artificial monopolies; the
exposing of, and subsequently a full legal accounting for, any and
all abuses of office and conflicts of interest at all levels of the
administration-beginning with the presidency-pursued for personal,
familial, or political party gain.
2.3 In this connection, the assurance that the abovementioned large
economic actors, having been decoupled from government, discharge
their tax obligations to the state; a correspondent sharp increase
in the state budget by means of collecting the superprofits of
the several businessmen who have attained them as a result of the
artificial inflation that has been registered in the years past;
and owing to this budget growth, a marked rise in the minimum wage,
pensions, unemployment and other benefits, and thus the mitigation
of social tension and polarization.
2.4 Based upon legislation to be adopted at the National Assembly,
the ruling out of undue big-business influence, inadmissibility
of members of parliament who are at once active entrepreneurs, and
dismissal of officials who pursue private interests.
2.5 The adoption and subsequent implementation of simplified tax laws
that grant tax breaks for small- and medium-size enterprises and guard
the business domain against the tax terror and arbitrariness of state.
2.6 The exposing of, and subsequently a full legal accounting for,
any and all unlawful and unrightful actions taken in connection with
the great crime that was committed on 1-2 March 2008 and thereafter.
2.7 The guarantee of the fundamental rights of free speech, freedom
of movement, and freedom of assembly and protest, and the bringing
to justice of those officials who violate such rights.
2.8 The release of political prisoners and those who are arrested on
political motives, and the bringing to justice of those judges who have
"legalized" political persecution.
2.9 The achievement of judicial independence, including compensation-on
the account of the judge's personal property and possessions-for
the damages caused to citizens who have suffered as a result of a
clearly unjust ruling issued by the given judge. 2.10 The execution
of fundamental reforms in the law enforcement system, including the
bringing to justice of those officials and officers who have carried
out violations against citizens and members of parliament.
2.11 The rearmament and modernization of the Armenian national
army by reference to best international practices, improvement of
the system of civil defense, achievement of civilian control over
the armed forces, uncovering of the circumstances behind the deaths
of military servicemen who have been killed in times of peace, and
the bringing to justice of those army commanders and officials who
unlawfully drew the army into politics on 1-2 March 2008.
2.12 The execution of fundamental reforms in the national security
system and its branches, exposing of those agents who are, or have
been, collaborating with the special services of other countries, and
the depoliticization of the National Security Service and clarification
of its functions.
2.13 The immediate development and subsequent implementation of a
national strategy to prevent the impending demographic disaster. This
strategy must include, inter alia, the creation of special and
privileged social and economic conditions for local residents so as
to prevent in particular the border and high-mountainous regions from
losing their human resources.
2.14 The ecologically safe and lawfully sound extraction of the
earth's minerals, which are national property, and the allotment
of a reasonable share of the relevant profits to the state budget,
termination of old and new projects that presuppose irreparable
environmental damage, and the launching of criminal cases and lawsuits
in connection with unlawful activities.
2.15 The declaration null and void of those normative acts (widespread
encroachment upon the right to property, prohibition of street vending;
mandatory automobile insurance, unsubstantiated high customs duties
for vehicles that are registered in Georgia, exploitation of certain
unsafe mines, etc.) which have been carried out by different branches
of government in contravention of the fundamental provisions, spirit,
and criteria of the Armenian Constitution-and thus of the rights of
different societal classes-and compensation for the damages caused
to the state and its citizens.
2.16 The subsidization of agricultural enterprises and specifically
of small farms and of factories that process agricultural products,
and the resultant increase in the level of Armenia's self-sufficiency
and food security.
2.17 The fundamental stimulation of advanced science and quality
education, creation of privileged conditions for scientists and
scholars, including the youth, depoliticization of educational
establishments and hence the removal of incumbent high-level state
officials from university boards.
2.18 The conduct of public education that is anchored in the Armenian
language, together with a sharp increase in the quality of teaching
foreign languages and cultures, encouragement of the profession of
translation and interpretation, with the realization of translations of
benchmark international textbooks and scholarly works for university
application as well as the rendering into Armenian of international
project and program guidelines.
2.19 The withdrawal from the National Assembly's agenda of the
Armenian-Turkish "protocols," which debase national dignity, as well
as the adoption and subsequent fulfillment of a national program for
the mastery and resettlement of the Homeland.
2.20 Armenia's and the international community's recognition of the
Republic of Mountainous Karabakh (Artsakh) within its legally-defined
boundaries and as established in full compliance with the precepts
of international law, the provision of nationwide solidarity to
the process of settlement in the areas that have been reunited with
Artsakh, acknowledgment as genocide of Azerbaijan's actions taken
against the Armenians of eastern Transcaucasia, and in sum formal
rejection of the "Madrid Proposals."
2.21 Accomplishment of the full potential of Homeland-Diaspora unity
on the basis of the Constitution and a legal foundation for mutual
relations.
3. In this light, to convene a special congress of the Heritage Party
during the instant calendar year as specified by the chairman of the
party's Executive Board.
Tomorrow, on March 15, the Heritage Party will convene a public
assembly to which Heritage Party chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian
will deliver his keynote address. The event will be held, at 3pm,
in the hall of the Hamazgayin Theater, located at 26 Amirian Street
(the State Theater and Film Institute) in Yerevan.
From: A. Papazian