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'Our Mandates Are More Than Legitimate'

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  • 'Our Mandates Are More Than Legitimate'

    'OUR MANDATES ARE MORE THAN LEGITIMATE'
    Arman Galoyan

    Story from Lragir.am News:
    http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/interview26228.html
    Published: 12:34:15 - 17/05/2012

    Interview with the coordinator of the Armenian National Congress
    Levon Zurabyan

    In the parliamentary election of May 6 the Congress received 7 seats.

    Had you expected such a result?

    We expected it in the sense that we still live in a dictatorship with
    a democratic face. It appears that competition is enabled but on the
    last day the results are summed up according to a pre-made scenario.

    The regime uses live bombs, these are the people who vote multiple
    times and the people who are coerced or bribed to vote.

    In Armenia there are no categories of people which are not related
    to politics and not because everyone is interested in it. Simply the
    passive mass which normallywould not vote in other countries ensure
    falsifications in totalitarian countries. There is an entire network
    which is managed by brigadiers. They coordinate up to 100 votes,
    receive money for bribes from the RPA and other ruling parties,
    collect the passports of citizens to report accomplished work. In the
    right hour the brigadiers organize voting by the persons under their
    charge. Different methods are used, including vote buying, proxy
    voting, open voting which is used in remote villages and military
    units, coercion. If people on the list vote to another party, not
    only they are punished but also the brigadier.

    Those who voted multiple times use the government's feeder and are
    ready to do everything they can.

    Do you think people are to blame for everything?

    A lot of people are trying to blame the public but we blame the Nazi
    regime which forces people to commit a mass crime. The government
    encourages crime, and we must understand that from now on it is
    necessary to think about national identity, the dismantlement of
    the regime.

    Should the Armenian National Congress be blamed as well?

    I am trying to analyze and I cannot find serious mistakes. We were able
    to waken hope, create an atmosphere where people were ready to vote for
    the Congress. But the machine was launched on the election day. People
    were simply cut off. We did everything to prevent breaches - we set
    up a joint headquarters, tried to cooperate with ARF and Prosperous
    Armenia. But we did not fight against RPA and separate criminals,
    we are fighting the criminal regime headed by Serzh Sargsyan. When
    all the government institutions are involved in the crime - the army,
    police, prosecutor's office - it is tough to do something against
    them. Only revolutions will end this.

    Do you want to follow the revolutionary path?

    There is such a discourse to follow the path of voting mechanisms
    or revolutions. We combine them. There are already results - a small
    platoon of people is in Parliament. We will have 7 fighters who will
    have certain levers to influence the government. We will have an
    opportunity to bring up any issue and demand a response. Our final
    goal is a democratic revolution.

    There is an opinion that accepting the mandates will legitimize
    the elections.

    We would like to hear logical arguments. Our mandates are more than
    legitimate and if the elections were fair, we would have had more
    mandates. We announce that the mandates of the RPA are illegitimate.

    Would it be right to reject the vote of confidence of people?

    The Congress is accused of cooperation with the PA, they say the ANC
    thus gave part of its votes to PA.

    In fact, without this cooperation, had the coalition formed a common
    front, we would have received fewer votes and would not reach the
    threshold of 7%. We broke down this front, split the coalition, and
    their breakup will continue even if a coalition is formed. Those who
    think that the game is over are mistaken. And the results which the
    regime has ensured were not determined by the moods of the public,
    they appeared in the result of large-scale operations. The joint
    headquarters was intended to weaken this operation.

    The victory of the regime was ensured at the expense of moral and
    psychological losses. The country hates the regime. All these breaches
    will be revealed and disputed at the Constitutional court.

    As to vote buying by PA, let us confess that if the regime did not
    buy votes, the other parties would not do it either.

    And pressure by way of rallies will be effective only if other parties
    join. For the time being, we have not been able to ensure the national
    format of resistance. And responsibility is on us because hardly
    anyone doubts our decisiveness.

    I can also assure that the forces which will defect from the Congress
    referring to the official election results and the modest return of
    the Congress will disappear from the political arena. Although the
    departure of the desperate ones will open up the path for ideological
    people. The Congress undergoes transformation and the leading positions
    are gradually occupied by young people with fresh thoughts.

    Besides, the core of the Congress is becoming firmer.

    Will the Congress nominate a presidential candidate in 2013?

    The decisions will not be made now. The Congress must run in the
    elections, and Levon Ter-Petrosyan will remain the strongest candidate
    of the Congress. There is no disagreement on this. I do not rule out
    that Ter-Petrosyan will be supported not only by the Congress but
    also other forces.

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