VERELQ talked about the course of the campaign and internal political developments with Naira Zohrabyan, a deputy of the “Tsarukyan” faction, a candidate for deputy nominated by the PAP in the Syunik and Vayots Dzor marzes.

– Ms. Zohrabyan, it is the fourth day of the campaign. what are your impressions, how is the campaign going?

– My impressions of Syunik and Vayots Dzor marzes are not new. This region has 36 villages and I have been to almost all of them and today I will summarize my campaign in the Sisian region by visiting a few more. I have to say that there are two regions in Armenia where poverty, unemployment, emigration are simply extreme: Shirak region with Gyumri and Syunik with Sisian region. People don’t have jobs, people don’t have cash, trade is not in money, but exclusively in barter: potatoes are exchanged for beans, beans are exchanged for cabbage, and this is how people survive. And it seems that this region has been neglected and abandoned by the government for years, Syunik has had a deputy for 20 years or more, but as Arshak Sadoyan once said, “All the deputies of Syunik were, in fact, tombstones.” Let’s remember some of them: Sashik Sargsyan. was an elected deputy from Syunik, but if the CEC had not informed him that he was a deputy from Syunik, that person would not have known. In the villages, I ask if your deputies have ever, ever, ever discussed with you an issue that concerns you, have they raised it, they say no, deputies have never entered the villages after being elected. And during the campaign, as many told, some MPs, including my own, came and slept in the adjacent room during club meetings. This is the tragedy of the situation.
Emigration is reaching catastrophic proportions and no matter how much we talk today, no matter what we talk about, until we are able to solve the problem of jobs in Vayots Dzor in this region, everything will be just talk.

– With what message are you going to the voter and why should the voter give you a vote of confidence?

– Very simple. My message is very clear: today the country’s budget does not have the opportunity to restart enterprises, create jobs. Our budget is sufficient for social spending and only for the Nagorno Karabakh problem, and we should not forget that we have that problem. There is only one solution to prevent unemployment, jobs, emigration, and that is investment, which can and only does Gagik Tsarukyan today either with its own investments or by bringing in foreign investments. And yes, Mr. Tsarukyan is also ready to make serious investments in this region, which will solve the most important problem – jobs. 

I won’t forgive the Republicans for much, but the worst thing they have done is to break people’s hope and faith. You look into people’s eyes – there is no hope, no faith, this proud nation, which is also our border guard, is thinking about what to do to be included in the list of beneficiaries. My message is: I will not do anything to add your family to the list of beneficiaries, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that you have a decent job and a decent workplace. Only in this way we will be able to solve the existing problems. Tomorrow I will already move to the villages of the Goris region and try to be as much as possible in this short period of time in Syunik Marz and Vayots Dzor communities.

– Ms. Zohrabyan, however, people were also nominated by the rating electoral system, who clearly won’t be able to do anything in the parliament, but since “local patriotism” sometimes works, don’t you think that many people can this time vote for a friend, a relative, who was nominated by rating, but it is obvious that he will add to the list of “tombstones” you mentioned?

– Yes, it is a very big problem and it is one of the distortions of the rating system. And it is no coincidence that I persistently fought for the adoption of a new EC, but unfortunately, because of one vote, we have this distorted system today. The people of Syune and Vayotsdzor really think very soberly and the way of thinking here and in Yerevan is really very different, because here people understand security and its price much better and understand that you can’t go on an adventure and you can’t send unprepared people to the National Assembly, who will go, sit and in the best case will do nothing, and in the worst case will directly harm the state. but nevertheless, there is a class that thinks according to the principle “it’s a matter of tasib”, that is, “let’s vote for the one who grew up in the same yard as us”. This is the most dangerous thing, especially now that we all understand that this parliament will be quite a difficult parliament and it is possible that there will be quite difficult problems and dilemmas before this parliament. I don’t want to open brackets, but sending unprepared people to the parliament, who will either keep silent or harm the state, for me, considering the current challenges of Armenia, is something like state treason. And this is also the message I am trying to send to the residents of Syun and Vayotsdzor – to you take the hand of a neighbor or friend and explain: dear boy, dear girl, your place is not in the parliament, go to private business, take care of your affairs, and there should be politicians in the National Assembly. And if we are talking about the parliamentary government system, then we should have a qualitatively new parliament.

– There are reports that the district authorities continue the previous way of working: they meet with different village heads, offer them money, because they cannot distribute mass election bribes, but so that each of the village heads secure certain votes in their favor in their community. After all, we know that village chiefs are generally elected by the member of the largest clan in the given community.

-Unfortunately, there is such information and I again want to draw the attention of the National Security Service, our government and the prime minister to this issue. yes, I myself receive alerts that various candidates, “grandfathers” of candidates go, meet with village heads, they are interested in one way or another in order to secure certain votes from a specific village. This is a criminal offense and I urge the legal system to be very attentive, to be vigilant, because this problem still exists today and must be prevented, otherwise we will have another illegitimate election and we will have another batch of tombstones in the National Assembly, who will come, sit and remain silent, thus harming the state as well. If a couple of criminals are caught, I am sure that we will be able to solve this problem before the elections.

And one more issue, on which I also draw the attention of the CEC president. clearly instruct the committee members that the scandal that happened during the 2017 National Assembly elections, when votes were taken from within one party and placed on the ballot of another candidate, especially in remote villages, so that this phenomenon does not continue. If this happens again, it is a serious blow to our electoral system and the credibility of the elections will be greatly questioned.

– Ms. Zohrabya, it is the fourth day of the campaign, but it seems that this time again, there is no programmatic debate between the political forces, the process has once again moved into the field of personal insults, threats, even Artsakh is being manipulated…

– I am very detached from the atmosphere of internal political intrigue in Armenia and I don’t manage to fully follow the situation, but it became obvious to me again that, unfortunately, we once again do not respect the voter and once again do not give him programs and the opportunity to choose between programs. “Mordoboy” and “ring” have started once again, which is unacceptable. It is even more unacceptable to talk about Artsakh in general, especially now. Come here, see how people live just a few kilometers from the border, from the posts. Yesterday I was in one of the border villages with Nakhijevan, from where the houses of Nakhijevan villages could be seen… how can one not consider these risks and make the Artsakh issue a subject of speculation and try to make some comparisons? This is not allowed. And very poorly perceived by the public. Maybe the perceptions are a little different in Yerevan, but here people live under firefights and risks every day, the election fight cannot be transferred to the ring. That is what has been done for years, as a result of which we have had illegitimate elections, the results of which have been unreliable. 

I call on all political forces. we still have 8 days of campaign, that time is not enough, but we can deliver programs to the public. The public will not choose who boxed whom better in the ring, but will choose which political force’s program is more viable, more feasible and more optimal. Let’s give the public at least one chance.
Lia Khojoyan