SERGE SARGSYAN: IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, ASK KOCHARYAN
Lragir.am
11-11-2007 10:11:04
After the conference of the Republican Party, which decided to nominate
Serge Sargsyan as president of Armenia, the prime minister held a
briefing and answered a few questions.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister, you are going to be nominated. What
peculiarity will your style of actions have during the election
campaign?
Answer: No, I have stated for a few times, now I repeat that our aim is
to explain to the Armenians, the citizens of Armenia first, the meaning
of our programs, to depict our vision of Armenia in future. For the
time being, there is no other peculiarity.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister you said every effort to undermine the
state will be prevented. What did you mean? If violence against
government.
Answer: First of all, I meant the political aspect, otherwise if they
try to do something as you said, there are law enforcement agencies
which will address it. It is not the party’s job.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister do you think revolution in Armenia is
likely?
Answer: I stated a few years ago that it is impossible in Armenia. We
have done all the revolutions already.
Question: Mr. Sargsyan do you still think you have no opponent in the
upcoming presidential election?
Answer: I have always stated that a presidential election is an
opportunity, not a sports event. I do not consider anyone as an
opponent. I think we must display our abilities to our voters, our
people instead of fighting someone. One can fight something, it is
necessary to fight vicious phenomena, problems which hinder our
development but I think fighting someone is not the right policy.
Question: The first president said you can be a good minister but not a
good prime minister. How does he know?
Answer: Ask him.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister, unlike you, Levon Ter-Petrosyan described
your career rather positively during his meeting with students. You
were very critical.
Answer: You always interpret it your way. If you think it is
satisfactory when he invents facts, that allegedly I had been expulsed,
if you think it is positive when he says my abilities are limited, if
you think it is positive when he insults me personally, it is already
your problem, not mine. Meanwhile, my speech contained nothing
regarding his personality.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister, what are your thoughts on comments on
your interview with the Los Angeles Times?
Answer: I told the Los Angeles Times the truth, I can account for my
words, and one needs to try hard to find something there. What they are
now trying to present is the result of unawareness. They allege that I
said the Karabakh issue is a religious issue, and we are waging a
religious war. It is funny because I have never thought so and I have
never said so. I only said the factor of religion also matters in this
struggle. This is not the first time I said it. If it does not matter,
why are our historical monuments destroyed, why are the khachkars
destroyed, why were people killed for being Armenian? In addition, not
only at the beginning but also at the end of the past century. In fact,
if someone says religious identity, faith have nothing to do with it,
it is their problem. But they should not have blamed their complex,
their problem on me.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister, you said the one who has a strong and
loyal team will win the presidential election. What is your team like?
Answer: It is strong. Our team believes in the idea. We think personal
faithfulness is secondary. Personal faithfulness is important in
family, in family relations, in politics it is important that one does
not renege on their conviction, justify their immoral moves by saying
that politics is immorality. I don’t think a person who is immoral in
politics can be moral in life. It never happens so. Yes, our team is
strong, it is strong with its ideas, with its background. Our team is
strong because it has a clear vision of Armenia in future, and this is
what we will be pursuing.
Question: Has your stance on appointment of Robert Kocharyan as prime
minister changed?
Answer: I have never expressed a stance. You have again misunderstood
me. Secondly, I think it is not correct for the acting prime minister
to comment on issues concerning the future of the president. If you
have questions, ask Kocharyan.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister, rumors came that some may defect from the
government camp to the opposition.
Answer: We are absolute majority, we do not need anyone to defect to us.
Question: I mean defect from you.
Answer: Ah, I see (laughs), I don’t even think about it.