SPEECH BY ARF ARMENIA SUPREME BODY REPRESENTATIVE ARMEN RUSTAMIAN AT THE 10TH SUPREME CONGRESS OF THE ARF ARMENIA ORGANIZATION
Yerkir
07.09.2006 15:21
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Speech by ARF Armenia Supreme Body representative
Armen Rustamian at the 10th Supreme Congress of the ARF Armenia
organization.
Today is the opening of the 10th Supreme Congress of the ARF Armenia
organization. The 10th congress coincides with a special jubilee of our
country’s new history – the 15th anniversary of the new independence.
The concurrence of these two jubilees makes me to not simply make
another report that is a part of each of our congresses but make a
special one, a more complete report.
A report that is not just meant for the internal use of the party with
an aim to ensure the accountability of the party leaders before the
party ranks, but is the party’s account before our people. People want
to see when, how and in what ways a party’s activities were related
to the country’s biography, and what was a party’s participation in
and contribution to the key issues of the people.
Only an assessment based on that criterion could be objective,
and only an assessment made during a crucial period of the homeland
could be considered comprehensive. This 15th anniversary of our new
independence makes everybody, including us, assess the road the party
has passed by viewing it in the context of achieving independence
and building statehood.
But it wouldn’t be right to limit ourselves to those 15 years only
if we wish to present this process in full; we need to take into
account a historic period that includes the essential stages of
the process, with its beginning and maturing process. This period
actually covers twenty years, since the beginning of the process was
the Karabakh movement that started in 1988 and it will end with the
2008 presidential election when the incumbent president is to leave
the office and Armenia is to have a new president.
In the context of those twenty years, an analysis and assessment
of a party’ s activities will allow to make the current rivalry and
disputes between the political forces constructive and position them
in the field of ideological and political field. This also requires
an assessment and evaluation of their political activities in the
achievements of the people and their contribution to the undisruptive
course of the country, the efficiency of their programs and efforts.
The ARF has been working under this logic for 116 years now, and
it was able to draw a line between the common national interest and
secondary issues, and act in the name of that most important goal by
making sacrifices when necessary and even acting alone when required.
There is no need of historians to realize this because those capacities
were apparent during this 20-year period, and the main events have
happened with the participation of this generation and before its eyes.
It happened from the very beginning — in 1988 — when our entire
nation reaffirmed its common goals and united for the national ideas
that were later formulated in the Independence Declaration.
Those ideas were of course concurrent with the program and values of
the Dashnaktsutiun. The Dashnaktsutiun then returned to Armenia with
the slogan "To the country;" it encouraged the Diaspora to participated
in the creating of the independent state that many had been dreaming
of for decades. The essence and mission of the Dashnaktsutin was
entirely realized in the Artsakh liberation war.
To win that bloody war, our people had to have a firm belief,
determination, experience and skills. We were successful and our
people saw that long-awaited victory. The fight, however, was not
over; it became political. The confrontation with the regime resulted
in the unfair suspension of the party and political harassment. The
confrontation was ideological and had a serious political content. The
ignoring by the regime of the national goals and ideas accompanied
with neutralization of the powerful potential laid in the base of it.
But even when it was suspended, the Dashnaktsutiun endowed all of
its capacities to return the country to the path that was aimed at
fulfilling the national goals. During the 1996 presidential election,
the party helped greatly to form a united opposition front around a
candidate that had clear platform.
This fight reached its finale when the ruling regime was ousted. The
change of regime in 1998 first of all rejected the political course of
the former regime and restored the respect and responsibility towards
the national goals and set up conditions for fundamental improvement
of the situation.
Unfortunately, the tragedy of October 27, 1999, interrupted that
normal course imposing a serious danger for the constitutional order
threatening the prospect of building statehood. With the joint efforts
of the Dashnaktsutiun, the president and other thoughtful forces,
the attempts to destabilize the country were thwarted.
The 2003 became the first difficult test for the new leadership. It
was hard to explain the difference between the desirable and reachable
to the people that had passed through the long years of hardship. But
the Dashnaktsutiun, while admitting the fact of internal and external
difficulties, the existence of numerous unsolved problems, was sure,
however, that it should not be allowed that the main achievement
be threatened. The national course restored after 1998 was to be
maintained, and the positive trend of the past five years should have
been given new momentum.
The 2003 elections were also the first serious test of our country
before the European bodies. It should be noted, however, that didn’t
pass that test.
It was apparent that the government was not ready yet, and certain
sectors of the society – because of social hardships — were not able
to make a balanced political decision. The situation that followed the
elections was tense; there was an objective discontent, the country’s
image was harmed, and the negative internal and external developments
could result in risky developments and losses.
Given those realities, as well as driven by the pursuit to raise
the issues we deemed crucial to the government and to contribute
to their solution with our immediate participation and role, the
Dashnaktsutiun decided to form a coalition with our partners. The
post-election tension, however, escalated one year later.
By escalating the domestic political situation, calling for
disobedience and removal of the leadership, the opposition tried to
rationalize – as it saw it – an existence of a social demand and by
its own interpretation of the Constitutional Court ruling. In reality,
inspired by the revolution in the neighboring country, the opposition
interpreted the unsolved problems and the subsequent discontent as
the people’s order to carry out an immediate change of the regime. But
the reality was the same as before and immediately after the elections.
Neither changing the regime, nor keeping it in power is not the
sole goal for the people; they expect from the leaders to carry out
significant changes.
This is why the Dashnaktsutiun, after consultations with prominent
intellectuals, together with its coalition partners, suggested that
those key issues be resolved through reaching a consensus with the
opposition.
Even today, we regret that that brilliant chance was missed. A chance,
that would have not allowed the political forces to be divided into
winners and losers; the victory would have been for all – and for
the people in the first place — because serious political conditions
would have been set up for carrying out wide and significant reforms.
The long-due constitutional reforms were to be put in the core of the
reforms. But unfortunately, due to that environment, the constitutional
referendum was not comprehended as an exclusive chance to improve
the constitution under the control of the European bodies to raise
the political activeness of the people.
Despite the controversial assessments given to the handling of the
constitutional reforms, it is apparent to the Dashnaktsution that the
country got rid of the constitution drafted by the regime of the day;
a constitution that has long exhausted itself.
This brief evaluation of the Dashnaktsutiun’s activities after its
return to Armenia makes it obvious that the party has been maintaining
its main goal – to ensure the country’s secure development by maintain
the national state course.
The best environment for reaching this goal is to establish a full
democratic stability. This is why the Dashnaktsutin has always acted
from the positions to maintain the domestic stability while carrying
out fundamental democratic reforms.
These two major goals make us adopt relevant position that makes us
oppress any outburst that could toss the baby with the dirty water, and
on the other hand to encourage any struggle that is aimed at furthering
the democratization of the country. Often, such a position has been
understood and interpreted wrongly. The opposition has considered it
as conformism and backpedaling from the once-revolutionary stance,
while the leadership has seen it as impatience and extra romantics.
We believe that the conditions created in those years are enough
to speed up the democratization of the country while maintaining
stability.
Such conditions include:
– the country’s return to the course outlined in 1988; – prevention
of the general regression and transforming them into progressive
trends; – encouragement of European integration process and setting up
conditions to make them irreversible; – voluntary commitments aimed at
harmonic development of the country and control and assistance by the
international organization over their implementation; – establishment
of the new constitutional order and democratic reforms stemming from
it; – maintenance of favorable and dignified stance in the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settlement; – foreign policies that are based on
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, pursuit of the national
interest and state goals; – initiation of new relations with the
Diaspora aimed at joining the capacities of all Armenians.
Armenia has reached today a stage when a political courage should
be applied and make a decisive and sharp turn towards European norms
and standards.
This will be the only condition for the Constitution, laws and decrees
to not remain on paper and be applied arbitrary. At this new stage,
the priorities for the reforms should be as follows:
– Significant increase of government efficiency through applying modern
means of balance and restraints; otherwise, people would continue to
feel the lack of the government in their every-day life. The government
should regain its organizing-regulating role in the social life.
– Establishment of the rule of law, from brining the laws in
line with international standards to ensuring measures for their
application. This is the main demand of our people, since Armenians
are more concerned with injustice than poverty.
– Furthering the anti-corruption fight, shifting from strategic
clarifications to implication of prevention and punishment
mechanisms. A lot has been said on the corruption but a wide social
front to fight it was never set up.
Only a powerful and independent anti-corruption body enjoying support
of the wide public that is the victim of the corruption could organize
and lead such front.
– It is crucial to shift from declaring human rights to fully ensuring
them by the government.
– The civil society is still in the embryonic stage. It can not develop
until it is given the tools for public control and interference.
– Only the reduction of social polarization and overcoming the poverty
are able to ever put our country in the family of countries with
advanced economies.
This level of poverty has one major reason – lack of jobs and small
size of domestic industry.
The upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections will be a test
to resolve those issues and to find out the country’s ability to
ensure democratic stability.
It is not a secret that only elections based on international standards
can ensure the foundation of election traditions. But there also
is another truth: elections only unearth the situation that exists
before the elections. So, the stronger the democratic traditions,
the better chances for the people to form its government. Therefore,
holding elections without providing people with proper democratic
tools and mechanisms would not yield desirable outcome.
Unfortunately, during all the previous elections, the tools and
mechanisms were not sufficient, and those elections were harshly
criticized both inside the country and abroad.
The Dashnaktsutiun, concerned with these realities, has offered
initiatives that include reduction of influence of non-political forces
on political processes, improvement of the Election Code, cooperation
in election commissions, ensuring the normal election process, and
most importantly, setting up a joint mechanism of registering election
fraud. We continue to believe that forces interested in the future of
the country, regardless of the camp they are, should put aside their
partisan and factional interests and doubts and unite for this goal.
Even now, we are sure that those initiatives are crucial and can
be applied.
We again are making this specific suggestion to all political parties
preparing for the elections, and this time hope to get wider support.
The upcoming elections are unprecedented. The National Assembly
will acquire a serious role in the government under the amended
constitution, and the parliamentary and presidential elections have
never been so interrelated and have never borne such significance for
the country’s future. Therefore, holding free and fair elections is
the only safe means for overcoming this period without losses and
turmoil. Undoubtedly, the picture of the newly elected National
Assembly is to determine future developments. The outcome of the
presidential election, in turn, depends on the results of the
parliamentary election and whether it is held in accordance with
international standards.
This way or another, the government formed in the upcoming election
will have to carry out fundamental reforms aimed at furthering
democracy, settling the Karabakh conflict in Armenia’s favor,
neutralizing internal and external security threats.
The Dashnaktsutiun stands ready to add its entire potential to that
of the healthy forces of this country in order to overcome this
twenty-year period successfully and without losses.