Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
German FM backs stability in strife-torn Caucasus region
BAKU, April 21
Germany Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on a visit to the
former republic of Azerbaijan on Wednesday that the European Union
was committed to helping the volatile Caucasus region achieve
stability.
Fischer, who had arrived in Azerbaijan from a trip to Afghanistan,
was speaking at the start of a tour of the region which will also
take in the neighbouring states of Georgia and Armenia.
“I told my colleague that we are interested in stability in the
region and the European Union is ready to do everything in this
regard,” the German foreign minister, speaking through an
interpreter, told reporters after talks with his Azeri counterpart
Elmar Mamedyarov.
He said Germany was keen to see an end to the long-running conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The row is seen as a major source of instability in the region, which
is becoming a strategic crossroads for oil exports from the Caspian
Sea to Western markets.
“We discussed the conflict and reached the conclusion that the two
sides should make steps toward one another, with the support of the
international community,” Fischer said. “We want the conflict to be
resolved as quickly as possible.”
Commenting on Azerbaijan’s human rights record, which has drawn
criticism from the international community, Fischer said he welcomed
the recent release from jail of a number of alleged political
prisoners. “I think it should be extended to all other political
prisoners,” he added.
Fischer was due to meet Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev later
Wednesday. On Thursday morning he is scheduled to travel to Armenia.
The following day he is due in Georgia, from where he will return to
Germany.

Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
Latest anti-government rally draws more than 10,000 in Armenia
YEREVAN, April 21
More than 10,000 demonstrators poured onto the rainy streets of
Armenia’s capital Wednesday, in the latest of a wave of protests
demanding the resignation of President Robert Kocharian.
“Kocharian’s resignation is necessary in order to organize a new
presidential election, this one fair,” one of the leaders of the
opposition Justice party, Chavarch Kocharian, told between 10,000 and
12,000 protestors.
A new election, in turn, “will enable the organization of fundamental
changes and true development in the country,” said Kocharian, who is
no relation to the Armenian leader.
Wednesday’s demonstration in Yerevan’s central Freedom Square was the
latest in a string of protests organized this month by opposition
parties in Armenia, a nation of three million people in the Caucasus
mountains.
The Armenian opposition says that Kocharian rigged a run-off
presidential vote in March 2003 to secure a second term in office and
is demanding that he either organize a national referendum of
confidence in his rule or step down.
On April 13, the police broke up an anti-government demonstration in
the capital Yerevan using water cannon and reportedly injuring dozens
of protestors.
“After April 13 we are living in a new political situation, in a
police state where terror reigns,” Aram Sarkissian, the leader of the
Democratic Party, told Wednesday’s gathering.
The protests in Armenia, the world’s first state to adopt
Christianity, have drawn comparisons with last year’s “rose
revolution” that ousted the leadership in neighbouring Georgia.
But despite the widespread discontent in Armenia over low living
standards, analysts say Kocharian is too strong, and the opposition
too weak, for the Georgian scenario to be repeated in Armenia.

Agence France Presse
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 AM Eastern Time
German FM urges Azerbaijan to shape up on democracy, rights
BAKU
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, on a visit to the former
Soviet republic of Azerbaijan Wednesday, said the country’s rulers
need to improve their record on human rights and democratic freedoms.
Speaking after a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev,
the German minister said the oil-rich state should “increase its
efforts” to meet its commitments as a member of pro-democracy club
the Council of Europe.
“For more than three years Azerbaijan has been a member of the
Council of Europe,” Fischer said, speaking through an interpreter.
“We are pleased about that and we supported Azerbaijan’s accession.
The Council of Europe insists on certain standards which include the
democratisation of society, human rights, freedom of speech, the
independence of the courts, and we hope that you will increase your
efforts in this regard.”
Fischer is the most senior European Union politician to visit
Azerbaijan, a nation of eight million people on the shores of the
oil-rich Caspian Sea, for several years.
Azerbaijan’s leadership has been accused of locking up its political
opponents after a disputed presidential election last year, and
subjecting some of them to torture in jail. Officials have denied the
charges.
Fischer, who arrived in Azerbaijan from a trip to Afghanistan, was
speaking at the start of a tour of the region which will also take in
neighbouring Armenia and Georgia.
He said Germany was keen to see an end to the long-running conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The row is seen as a major source of instability in the region, which
is becoming a strategic crossroads for oil exports from the Caspian
Sea to Western markets.
“We discussed the conflict and reached the conclusion that the two
sides should make steps toward one another, with the support of the
international community,” Fischer said. “We want the conflict to be
resolved as quickly as possible.
Fischer also said he saw Azerbaijan as the economic power-house of
the region and was keen to see German companies invest in the
country.
He is due to stay overnight in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. On
Thursday morning he is scheduled to travel to Armenia. The following
day he is due in Georgia, from where he will return to Germany.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

City News Service
April 20, 2004 Tuesday
Suspect Sought
GLENDALE
Glendale police asked the public’s help today in finding a would-be
bandit who accidentally fired at a 51-year-old man while they were
struggling over the gun. The intended victim had just gotten home
from shopping about 9 p.m. on April 14, in the 900 block of Patterson
Avenue, when a gunman walked up and demanded the resident’s wallet,
Glendale police Officer Leticia Chang said. A struggle ensued, and
the intended victim managed to get the gun from the would-be robber,
who ran to a dark-colored car and fled with two other people, Chang
said. The suspect was described as a skinny Armenian, about 5 feet 8
inches tall, with black short hair, a white baggy jersey type shirt
with a logo on the front, white shorts and white tennis shoes. Anyone
with more information about the robbery attempt is asked to call
Glendale detectives at (818) 548-3987 or the department’s main
number, (818) 548-4840. Anonymous calls can be made to (818)
506-STOP.

Associated Press Worldstream
April 21, 2004 Wednesday 2:05 PM Eastern Time
Armenian opposition presses ahead in campaign to force president out
YEREVAN, Armenia
Armenian opposition parties pushed forward in their campaign against
President Robert Kocharian, holding a protest rally that attracted an
estimated 10,000 people to the center of the capital.
The opposition has been holding rallies every few days to press its
grievances, including calls for Kocharian’s resignation.
Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests, including nearly daily demonstrations between
the first round and the runoff.
Opposition groups alleged widespread violations in both rounds of the
election, which was followed by a parliamentary ballot in which the
pro-government party won the most votes.
Lingering anger over the alleged election fraud is aggravated by
Armenia’s economic struggles. Once one of the most industrialized
regions of the Soviet Union, its economy collapsed after the Soviet
breakup and recovery efforts have been hampered by the closure of its
borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“Armenia would be a country like Latvia, if it weren’t led by Robert
Kocharian,” said Shavarsh Kocharian of the opposition Justice Party,
referring to one of the former Soviet Baltic states that are about to
join the European Union.
Police forcefully broke up a protest rally on April 13, detaining
more than 100 people, reportedly causing injuries and raising
tensions.
“Before a dialogue can begin, both sides must be legitimate and
Robert Kocharian showed on April 13 that he is outside the law,”
Justice Party leader Stepan Demirchian told the rally.

ARKA News Agency
April 21 2004
Regular meeting of united opposition starts today at the square of
Freedom in the center of Yerevan
RA Prime Minister and Estonian Ambassador in Armenia note the
necessity of stimulation economic relations between two countries
RA President meets the US Ambassador in Armenia and USAID Mission
Director
An exhibition devoted to historical and cultural monuments of North
Artsakh organised in Stepanakert
*********************************************************************
REGULAR MEETING OF UNITED OPPOSITION STARTS TODAY AT THE SQUARE OF
FREEDOM IN THE CENTER OF YEREVAN
YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. Regular meeting of united opposition
started today at the square of Freedom in the center of Yerevan. The
organizers of the meeting are Justice bloc, National Unity Party and
Communist Party of Armenia. ARKA correspondent reports from the
meeting that about 5 thousand people take part in the rally. The
meeting was opened by the Chairman of National Democratic Party, RA
NA Deputy Shavarsh Kocharian, who stated that authorities try to make
it seem that opposition tries to get to power by force, which does
not correspond to reality. `Till now opposition acted in the frames
of Constitution, which is a guarantee of our victory’, Kocharian
said. He said that Kocharian is sentenced to failure and statements
of international organizations testify to that. He stressed that the
idea of fight is much deeper than personal political interests of
opposition.
Leader of Justice Bloc Stepan Demirchian stated that authorities that
use any power are doomed. `Armenia must develop by democratic way and
those who prevent this process must go away’, Demirchian said. L.D.
–0–
*********************************************************************
RA PRIME MINISTER AND ESTONIAN AMBASSADOR IN ARMENIA NOTE THE
NECESSITY OF STIMULATION ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES
YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and
Estonian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Armenia
Andreas Unga noted the necessity of stimulation economic relations
between two countries. According to RA President’s Press Service and
Public Relations Department, in the course of the meeting the parties
attached importance to bilateral co-operation in various fields of
economy, in particular, in industry, agriculture, health care,
tourism, science and culture. Taking into consideration the
importance of IT development for Armenia, Margaryan emphasized the
importance for co-operation exactly in that field and spread of
Estonian Electronic Administration Academy experience in Armenia.
According to the press release, Margaryan and Unga also discussed
issues connected with holding business forums, organization of
visits, and establishing close co-operation between certain
Ministries and Trade Industry Chambers of RA and Estonia for
stimulation of bilateral trade turnover.
In the course of the meeting, Margaryan congratulated Unga on
Estonia’s entrance into EU and expressed hope that Estonia will
become Armenia’s reliable partner, which will contribute to Armenia’s
integration into the EU. Also, Margaryan congratulated Unga on
Estonia’s full membership in NATO, noting that Armenia will keep to
its policy of consistent development of co-operation with that
organization in the framework of Partnership for Peace program.
In his turn, Estonian Ambassador noted that Estonia as a new member
of EU encourages New Neighborhood program , due to which the counties
of the South Caucasus, including Armenia, will have the chance to
become members of European family. A.H – 0–
*********************************************************************
RA PRESIDENT MEETS THE US AMBASSADOR IN ARMENIA AND USAID MISSION
DIRECTOR
YEREVAN, April 21. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan has met John
Ordway, the US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in
Armenia, and Robin Phillips, USAID Mission Director. According to the
RA President’s Press Service Department, issues regarding the
programs on humanitarian aid provision to Armenia by the US
Government were discussed in the course of the meeting. Besides, the
issues of Armenia’s participation in Millennium Challenges Fund
program was touched. A.H.–0–
*********************************************************************
AN EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF NORTH
ARTSAKH ORGANISED IN STEPANAKERT
STEPANAKERT, April 21. /ARKA/. In connection with International Day
of monuments and historic places, Haiki Serund (Haik’s generation)
youth organisation, acting in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR),
organised an exhibition devoted to historical and cultural monuments
of North Artsakh. According to ARKA’s reporter in Stepanakert, the
photos of a famous ethnographer Samuel Karapetyan exhibited reflect
cultural and everyday life of ancient villages of North Artsakh
(Shahumyan, Shamkhor, Khanlar, and Dashkensk regions), where
historical and cultural monuments preserved.
According to specialists, the Azerbaijani side destroyed thousands of
historic monuments on the territory of Karabakh. 167 churches, 8
monastery complexes and 123 historical Armenian cemeteries were
destroyed when Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan, and during the period
of war aggression on the part of Azerbaijan against NKR. A.H. –0–

A1 Plus | 22:04:17 | 21-04-2004 | Politics |
OUR LOBSTERS IN DEMAND IN EUROPE
On Wednesday, Armenian-European Economic Policy Center Economic Adviser
Ashot Iskandaryan, said Wednesday Armenia had exported mostly precious
stones to European countries for last years. In 2003, considerable amount of
lobsters costing 1 million 600 thousand USD was sent to EU member countries.
He said goods of 678,1 million USD were exported to the EU countries. This
year commodity turnover rose twice comparing with that of past years.

Armenia Builds Three Wind Power Stations On Iranian Funds
Mediamax
April 21, 2004
YEREVAN
A hydroelectric power station with 80 megawatt power will be built on
the Armenian side of the Araks river, Armenian Minister of Energy
Armen Movsisian said in Yerevan today.
Armen Movsisian said that at present the appropriate geological
prospecting and cartographical works are being conducted, which are
planned to be finished by the middle of the year, Mediamax reports.
The Minister also said that the construction of three wind power
stations with total 2 megawatt power has begun on the Iranian funds to
the amount of $2.5 mln. According to Armen Movsisian, the research
shows that Armenia has a potential for the development of wind energy.

CENN – APRIL 21, 2004 DAILY DIGEST — ARMENIA
Table of Contents:
1. Dalma Gardens Will Be Seized
2. Armenian President Says Iran Pipeline To End Energy Dependency
3. Armenian Paper Critical of State Policy on Iran Gas Pipeline
4. Armenian Industrial Production Up 10.5% in Q1
5. Development Bank Looks East to Aid Poor Nations
1. DALMA GARDENS WILL BE SEIZED
Source: A1 Plus, April 20, 2004
Dalma Gardens’ renters have today assembled at Municipality again. Their
problem is not settled, the territories will be taken away and the
tenants demand to prolong the contracts by 25 years.
Karen Davtyan, head of Department Real Estate Management of
Municipality, says there is a special decision of Government under which
a part of gardens is to remain as a green area and the rest will serve
other purposes.
Mr Davtyan informed they follow the above decision. “Policemen have come
today with tractors to destroy our green territories”, renter Azat
Khachatryan says. Then they left warning to raze the green zones if the
appropriate decision wasn’t produced the next day.
“No Court accepts any document on Dalma Gardens to launch legal
proceedings”, renter Yntsa Hovhannissyan says.
Tenants assure policemen have today blocked the roads to Leningradyan
street and Hrazdan Sport Complex to hamper the renters to come to their
gardens.
2. ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SAYS IRAN PIPELINE TO END ENERGY DEPENDENCY
Source: Mediamax News Agency, April 20, 2004
On April 20, 2004, in Yerevan Robert Kocharyan, the President Armenian
stated that a gas pipeline to link Iran and Armenia will only be used to
meet Armenia’s energy needs. “We do not discuss any other options with
the Iranian side,” Robert Kocharyan said in reply to a question about
the possible use of the pipeline for shipping gas to Europe.
Mediamax quoted Kocharyan as telling a news conference in Yerevan today
“the construction of the gas pipeline is very important as this will
make Armenia independent in terms of energy supplies”.
3. ARMENIAN PAPER CRITICAL OF STATE POLICY ON IRAN GAS PIPELINE
Source: Haykakan Zhamanak, April 17, 2004
Text of Erdzanik Abgaryan’s report by Armenian newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak on 17 April headlined “Kocharyan is giving a big gas pipeline
to a Turk as a gift”.
It is no secret that the European Union has a positive attitude towards
the idea that the Central Asia-Iran-Armenia gas pipeline should go via
Armenia, suggesting the closure of the Armenian Nuclear Power Station,
which meets the interests of the people’s security. Iran’s position on
this issue is absolutely good.
But it is strange and tragicomic that the special representative of the
EU for the South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, and Iran’s Foreign Minister
Kamal Kharrazi have tried to persuade the Kocharyan administration to
agree to build the gas pipeline via Armenia. So the gas pipeline caused
a stir last week.
[Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan] Oskanyan, who fails all strategic
issues together with his chief [Armenian President Robert Kocharyan],
visited Tehran and finally buried the hope that the gas pipeline will be
constructed via Armenia. Information sources disseminate contradictory
information about that visit and it may be concluded that the Armenian
authorities and their secret services were behind that flow of
disinformation. But on 13 April Iran’s Oil Minister [Bizhan Namdar-]
Zanganeh announced that a contract on the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is
already ready and he will soon visit Armenia for signing it. Saying that
the volumes of Iranian gas supplies are limited by 1,500m cu.m.
annually, Zanganeh in fact confirmed that the constructed pipeline will
not be a transit one. That is, Armenia is withdrawn from this
international programme just the same way as it was withdrawn from other
international and regional programmes. As a result of it, the Armenians
will be deprived of those significant sums that would be charged for
transit, and of many jobs, and it is even more tragic that Armenia will
be sidelined from all international interests.
As can be seen, the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline will also be under
Russia’s control as Russia’s Itera will be the gas pipeline’s operator.
We do not accuse Russia, we accuse its Armenian stooges: Kocharyan and
his administration who betrayed our national interests. Nevertheless, it
is obvious that Russia’s diplomatic position on this gas pipeline is
based not only on its aspiration to preserve its monopoly on gas
supplies to Europe, but also on its aim to establish deeper relations
with the Turks and Azerbaijanis. The point is that the Russians also
know that the Central Asia-Iran-Europe pipeline will be undoubtedly
constructed. And if not via Armenia, it may be constructed via Turkey or
Azerbaijan.
So withdrawing Armenia from the regional and international cooperation
programmes, as well as from the Central Asia-Iran-Europe gas pipeline
system, Russia simply cooperates with Turkey and Azerbaijan in the issue
of sidelining Armenia from the world processes. So we can say that the
“national” socialist Dashnaks and the law-abiding persons who have
turned the National Assembly into barracks, headed by Kocharyan, are
handing the strategic interests of Armenia to the Turks on a plate. And
today’s opposition, at its mass rallies, is obliged to disclose this
crime along with other crimes of the Kocharyan administration that
flouts the interests of the Armenian people and statehood.
5. ARMENIAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION UP 10.5% IN Q1
Source: Interfax, April 19 2004
Industrial production in Armenia in the first quarter 2004 increased
10.5% year-on-year to 69.5 million dram, not including industrial
production in the electricity sector, Economic Development and Trade
Minister Ashot Shakhnazarian told journalists.
He said that the mining and diamond cutting industries accounted for the
largest share in industrial production in the reporting period.
The minister said that exports of industrial products from Armenia
increased 27% year-on-year to amount to 43.2 million dram in the first
quarter this year. The official exchange rate on April 16 was 558.16
dram to the dollar.
6. DEVELOPMENT BANK LOOKS EAST TO AID POOR NATIONS
International Herald Tribune, April 20, 2004
LONDON With the most advanced economies in the former Communist bloc set
to join the European Union next month, the multinational bank that was
set up to aid the transition to capitalism said Monday that it would pay
greater attention to poorer countries farther to the east.
The agency, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will
not immediately cease operations in the eight Central and Eastern
European countries that, along with Malta and Cyprus, are set to join
the EU on May 1, 2004. But in those countries, the bank’s “role should
naturally fall away over the years to come,” said Prime Minister Tony
Blair of Britain, who addressed the agency’s annual meeting in London on
Monday.
The development bank, which operates in 27 countries, said Monday that
it had created a new program aimed at increasing its lending in seven of
the poorest ones – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – where more than 50 percent of the
population lives below the poverty line.
In those countries, governments are too indebted to raise new financing,
and foreign investors are often unwilling to enter, given the myriad
risks – not least, in countries such as Uzbekistan, where George Soros
and other investors have complained of a woeful human rights record.
Meanwhile, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, and the subsequent ouster
of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan – which borders on two of the seven
countries, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – heightened the awareness in some
Western capitals of the strategic importance of former Soviet Central
Asia, in particular.
Jean Lemierre, the bank’s president, who was elected to a second
four-year term on Monday by the bank’s board, said the bank would step
up its efforts to finance small businesses, cross-border trade and
small-scale infrastructure projects, among other things.
“The bank is ready to take on the financial as well as reputational risk
as we seek to invest more in countries at the earlier stages of
transition,” Lemierre said.
The bank said it aimed to increase its combined investment in the seven
countries to about E150 million, or $181 million, a year from the
current E90 million. Because its investments typically result in
additional private-sector activity, the bank said it expected the
overall effect to be greater than that.
The bank will take on added risk in part by adhering to local law,
rather than international law, in some of its investments in the seven
countries. Bankers said that should not pose a threat to the bank’s
financial health because the activities in the seven poorest countries
account for only a fraction of the overall investments; the bank made
E3.7 billion worth of new investments last year.
Yet new lending in the seven poorest countries had actually been
dwindling. By 2002, said Michael McCulloch, a consultant to the bank on
its new initiative, these countries were actually paying more to service
previous commitments to the bank than they were receiving in new
investment flows.
In the relatively well-to-do Eastern and Central European countries that
are joining the EU, the agency has typically invested in large projects,
often in cooperation with private-sector lenders. With their financial
markets gained in depth and breadth, domestic and regional banks lend to
smaller borrowers. But the seven poorest countries have few lenders
willing to finance projects in the E500, 000 to E2 million range, the
bank said, yet these will be crucial to the development of their
economies.
As the bank shifts its emphasis a bit to the east, its horizon is
growing. Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of its board of governors and
prime minister of Luxembourg, urged other governors to complete the
process of accepting Mongolia as a country of operation for the bank.
The United States, among others, has already approved Mongolia as a
country of operation.
—
*******************************************
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St. NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
April 21, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA WELCOMES CANADA’S RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
— NATO Members Joins Growing Number of Nations
Officially Recognizing Turkey’s Crime Against Humanity
— Praises ANC of Canada for Success in Two Decade-Long Effort
OTTAWA, CANADA – With an overwhelmingly favorable vote of 153 to 68
in Parliament today, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
member Canada joined the growing number of nations that have
formally recognized the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).
The motion reads, simply “That this House acknowledges the Armenian
genocide of 1915 and condemns this act as a crime against
humanity.’
“Armenians in America and throughout the world welcome this
historic step by Canada,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director
of the ANCA. “The Canadian Parliament, in rejecting intense
Turkish government pressure, took an important step in further
isolating Turkey for its shameful, international campaign of
genocide denial.”
Today’s action, which followed yesterday’s second reading of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution, Bill M-380, is the culmination of
more than twenty years of work by the Armenian National Committee
of Canada, (ANCC) in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and
throughout the country. An ANCC team has been in the nation’s
capital for the past several weeks representing the community’s
views on this matter.
Bill M-380 was introduced last year by Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral
(Bloc Québecois), seconded by Sarkis Assadurian (Liberal), Alexa
McDonogugh (National Democratic Party), Jason Kenney (Conservative
Party). On February 21st, the Parliament held its first reading,
which included an hour of debate on the measure. Among those
speaking in favor of the Resolution during the first reading were
Derek Lee (Liberal), Eleni Bakopnaos (Liberal), Francine Lalonde
(BQ), Stockwell Day (PC) and the Hon, Lorne Nystrom (NDP).
The governing Liberal leadership paved the way for this vote by
allowing a “free vote,” meaning that individual members are allowed
to vote their conscience, without any pressure or negative
repercussions from their respective party leaderships.
#####