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  • Army Will Be Deployed On March 30

    ARMY WILL BE DEPLOYED ON MARCH 30
    ARMAN GALOYAN

    Story from Lragir.am News:
    http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/interview25344.html
    Published: 15:40:02 - 05/03/2012

    Interview with Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the coordinator of the central
    office of the Armenian National Congress

    Levon Ter-Petrosyan's intervention was eventually required to make
    the list of the Armenian National Congress? Was the Congress unable
    to reach a consensus and make a list?

    Certainly, it would be ideal if the parties forming the election
    bloc of the Armenian National Congress reach a consensus on the
    list. After all, according to the Election Code, the approval of the
    full list by the parties forming the election bloc is required. It
    was the reason why we initiated the process of reaching a consensus
    among the parties. There were rather effective discussions, the
    principles and criteria were established to choose people and decide
    the correlation of non-partisans and partisans to be included in
    the list. Certainly, they must be leaders who will inspire people,
    be acceptable for the society. It is also clear that the key leaders
    of the parties must have a place on the list. Everyone understands
    that once the other conditions are equal, the political prisoners
    must have an advantage because they are people who are ready to meet
    challenges for the sake of their political views and principles. It was
    understood that the people who wish to run under the majority system
    must have an advantage if the other conditions are equal, as well as
    the presence of young and fresh personalities must be ensured. It was
    important to reach a consensus on a specific list of names. In other
    words, there must be a list of names. The political board could not
    reach a consensus, and then the discussions continued in interparty
    meetings on a daily basis. However, the parties were also unable to
    reach a consensus. Afterwards, Levon Ter-Petrosyan held a meeting of
    the political board and heads of regional structures to discuss the
    options of reaching a consensus. Different options were presented,
    including the establishment of a body which would make the list on the
    basis of consensus which will be accepted by everyone independent from
    the result. However, the discussion showed that the majority prefers
    the option which Ter-Petrosyan dwelled on during the rally. In other
    words, Levon Ter-Petrosyan will be delegated to finalize the list.

    When will the list be finalized?

    There is a deadline foreseen by the legislation. The application must
    be submitted to the CEC from March 12 to 22.

    Will Ter-Petrosyan's list be satisfactory?

    There cannot be a satisfactory option because the Armenian
    National Congress is a union of political forces, bright political
    personalities, and all the leaders have a large caliber and they can
    have justified aspirations for high positions. Unfortunately, it is
    impossible to ensure adequate places to their merit for all of them.

    Hence, I do not think that someone may be satisfied with the
    list. But there is another principle. But another principle works -
    the political union emerged for the sake of democratization of Armenia,
    not for the sake of the list or parliamentary seats. Even if they
    dislike something from the point of view of ambitions, assessments,
    they are ready to make the final decision for the sake of the cause.

    There is another hindrance. Some people may think that the order of
    the list defines some hierarchy. It is impossible. The list must
    represent the society, the list of people to run in the National
    Assembly elections. On the other hand, it must have the effect of
    mobilization. The top of the list must be occupied by people who
    have first of all considerable human resources, a serious influence,
    whose names alone will involve the highest number of citizens in
    political activities.

    In this context, what is your assessment of the decision of the ruling
    coalition parties to run in the elections separately? Will this option
    favor the Congress?

    If Serzh Sargsyan was able to control the government team fully,
    it would be a preferable option for him. If some parties run in the
    elections, the government will collect the votes of people who will
    not support Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party and vote for him.

    However, the traditional logic was not observed. Witnessing the growing
    independence of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) as a political
    factor, Serzh Sargsyan had serious concerns and in the beginning
    he rejected the principle of running in the elections separately,
    tried to make one list for the coalition. They would lose votes but
    control the Prosperous Armenia Party. Serzh Sargsyan failed, the PAP
    rejected this option. The decision to run in the elections separately
    is the consequence of the rejection of Serzh Sargsyan's election
    plan. Hence, there is reason to think that the PAP is becoming less
    and less controlled by Serzh Sargsyan. In reality, both options are
    technically favorable for the popular movement. In both cases there
    are advantages which will be used immediately. After all, either
    the PAP must agree to the number of parliamentary seats assigned to
    it or it will be obvious to everyone that the PAP is the Country of
    Law Party of this election. Or the PAP must do everything to ensure
    a free and fair voting on the election day, and in this case it will
    be possible to defeat the Republican Party by way of the elections.

    The Armenian National Congress highlights the PAP. In his recent
    speeches Levon Ter-Petrosyan often dwelled on it in a positive light.

    What is the reason that the Congress' attitude to the PAP is so
    positive?

    It is clear that we are ready to cooperate with the Heritage Party
    and the ARF-D. The recent developments show that this cooperation is
    deepening. However, the PAP is different by its political weight. It
    is a more influential factor than the others, both in terms of the
    electorate and membership to the coalition, and its independence from
    the Republican Party will bring about more far-fetched consequences.

    Don't you fear that the PAP will try to lend a hand to the Congress
    and try to appear opposition to win over voters but return to the
    pro-government coalition after the elections?

    Nobody can rule out the way of the Country of Law. However, our
    observations show that the main tendency is headed backward, the
    controversies are becoming more obvious, the independence of the PAP is
    highlighted. From time to time, these controversies end up in fragile
    ceasefires but they do not last long. And if it is obvious that Serzh
    Sargsyan, nevertheless, forced the PAP to head along the path of the
    Orinats Yerkir Party, we will always be able to draw conclusions. At
    the moment, however, it is important to enable the independence of
    the PAP.

    There is an opinion that the attempts of the PAP to get independence
    are determined by their relationship with Robert Kocharyan. On the
    other hand, Levon Ter-Petrosyan disagreed with this opinion in his
    speech. What are your thoughts?

    There is a basic reason why Ter-Petrosyan is right. Robert Kocharyan
    does not have any lever of influence on the PAP and Gagik Tsarukyan.

    He does not have a lever because he is not in government and cannot
    influence the decisions of any government body. He cannot have
    financial levers because the PAP has its own financial resources and
    does not need Kocharyan's financial assistance. In terms of shaping
    public opinion they do not have any levers. Instead the Congress
    has such levers. While Kocharyan does not unfold public activity,
    even if he does, it will produce the opposite result because his
    reputation has been damaged.

    So what is the strategy of the Congress in this situation?

    The strategy of the Congress at this moment is the revolution. As
    to our vision, we will speak about it in the rally of March 30, as
    soon as we resolve a number of issues related to the elections. I
    think that on March 30 the political army of the Armenian National
    Congress will be deployed, ready for a general attack.

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