‘OUR MANDATES ARE MORE THAN LEGITIMATE’
Arman Galoyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
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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