Tweet
HOVANNISIAN: "WE WILL NOT ABANDON OUR COUNTRY AND WILL LIBERATE OUR STATE. . ."
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/52086/raffi_hovannisian_serzh_sargsyan_heritage_party
POLITICS | 18.02.14 | 17:42
Photolure
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
A year after the presidential ballot in Armenia, the official
runner-up, Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian says the country
is in crisis and re-elected President Serzh Sargsyan is responsible.
After months of silence, on Tuesday, Hovannisian, presenting an annual
national report, said that although a year passed since the elections,
the post-election standoff has not receded for even a split second and
that Armenia can overcome the current crisis only through pan-national
consolidation.
"Heritage (party) and the other soldiers of free and independent
Armenia have not left the battlefield; this short break has been
for regrouping in order to gain strength and volume and become more
powerful as the obstacle has not been overcome yet. Heritage has
always been and will keep standing next to people, to the civil
currents fighting for their rights, next to our glorious youth and
freedom fighters [Karabakh war veterans]," he said.
The former presidential candidate believes the current state of affairs
in Armenia are the result of last year's February 18 "rigged ballot"
and illegal reproduction of its leadership. The work style of vassal
interactions prevails in Armenia's foreign policy, when relations
are built on the pursuit of guarantees of external support to the
ruling regime at the expense of national interests and the country's
national wealth.
"During one night an 'X' was marked over the extensive work on
the Association Agreement between the European Union and Armenia
in favor of the Customs Union's vague future, where, it turned out,
they weren't really waiting for Armenia with open arms. The country is
sinking deeper and deeper in the vortex of the enslaving agreement's
validity period to last for decades," said the Heritage leader.
Speaking about a number of issues challenging the country, Hovannisian
mentioned also Shant Harutyunyan, regarded as a political prisoner,
saying that most probably he is not the last political prisoner and
demanded his and his supporters' release.
"Our goal is to form a leadership through fair elections. The growing
civil movements in the country are a warning that this regime's efforts
are doomed and that it is no longer possible to cheat our people. We
will not abandon our country and will liberate our state from antipode
phenomena and will return to our people its legitimate rights and
recover its humiliated dignity," said Hovannisian, then point by
point cited the lessons learned from the developments of the past
year, among them also "the impossibility of ensuring the expression
of people's will under the current circumstances, the fact that the
oppositional forces are not ready for a lasting struggle", etc.
"Yes the struggle is ongoing and we have repeatedly stated and keep
stating that Armenia can overcome the deepening crisis only by means
of pan-national consolidation. Hence, everything has to be put to
action - beginning from creating more and more new centers of fight
and resistance cells ending with rejecting anti-state agreements
and anti-constitutional national laws. It is time to shift from the
February-18 historical glory and honor, grief and prayer to actually
carving a future," he said, adding that "the establishment of a united
forum and discharge of the non-elected authorities are as necessary
as the air we breathe and the water we drink."
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/52086/raffi_hovannisian_serzh_sargsyan_heritage_party
POLITICS | 18.02.14 | 17:42
Photolure
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
A year after the presidential ballot in Armenia, the official
runner-up, Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian says the country
is in crisis and re-elected President Serzh Sargsyan is responsible.
After months of silence, on Tuesday, Hovannisian, presenting an annual
national report, said that although a year passed since the elections,
the post-election standoff has not receded for even a split second and
that Armenia can overcome the current crisis only through pan-national
consolidation.
"Heritage (party) and the other soldiers of free and independent
Armenia have not left the battlefield; this short break has been
for regrouping in order to gain strength and volume and become more
powerful as the obstacle has not been overcome yet. Heritage has
always been and will keep standing next to people, to the civil
currents fighting for their rights, next to our glorious youth and
freedom fighters [Karabakh war veterans]," he said.
The former presidential candidate believes the current state of affairs
in Armenia are the result of last year's February 18 "rigged ballot"
and illegal reproduction of its leadership. The work style of vassal
interactions prevails in Armenia's foreign policy, when relations
are built on the pursuit of guarantees of external support to the
ruling regime at the expense of national interests and the country's
national wealth.
"During one night an 'X' was marked over the extensive work on
the Association Agreement between the European Union and Armenia
in favor of the Customs Union's vague future, where, it turned out,
they weren't really waiting for Armenia with open arms. The country is
sinking deeper and deeper in the vortex of the enslaving agreement's
validity period to last for decades," said the Heritage leader.
Speaking about a number of issues challenging the country, Hovannisian
mentioned also Shant Harutyunyan, regarded as a political prisoner,
saying that most probably he is not the last political prisoner and
demanded his and his supporters' release.
"Our goal is to form a leadership through fair elections. The growing
civil movements in the country are a warning that this regime's efforts
are doomed and that it is no longer possible to cheat our people. We
will not abandon our country and will liberate our state from antipode
phenomena and will return to our people its legitimate rights and
recover its humiliated dignity," said Hovannisian, then point by
point cited the lessons learned from the developments of the past
year, among them also "the impossibility of ensuring the expression
of people's will under the current circumstances, the fact that the
oppositional forces are not ready for a lasting struggle", etc.
"Yes the struggle is ongoing and we have repeatedly stated and keep
stating that Armenia can overcome the deepening crisis only by means
of pan-national consolidation. Hence, everything has to be put to
action - beginning from creating more and more new centers of fight
and resistance cells ending with rejecting anti-state agreements
and anti-constitutional national laws. It is time to shift from the
February-18 historical glory and honor, grief and prayer to actually
carving a future," he said, adding that "the establishment of a united
forum and discharge of the non-elected authorities are as necessary
as the air we breathe and the water we drink."