It gives us a bad name to begin with
"The Yerevan mayor elections are definitely political elections and are aimed at strengthening political parties and promoting the political culture," said today Head of the NA Standing Committee on State/Legal Issues David Harutyunyan.
Taking into consideration the fact that Mr. Harutyunyan is also member of the Republican Party, "A1+" tried to find out the chances of holding fair elections when his fellow party members injure others who pass out flyers and declare that this or that district belongs to them in regard to the attacks against Armenian National Congress representatives in the Avan district for two days in a row.
"I condemn any form of violence regardless of where it starts from. Criminal cases have already been instigated. It is a fact and a demand for all of us to learn what it means to debate in a civilized manner. It gives us a bad name to begin with," said Harutyuyan.
Don't you think that the Armenian authorities will become strictly polarized if the Republican Party wins in the mayor elections? In response, Mr. Harutyunyan said:
"The country becomes polarized when the poles start to change. Yes, the authorities may become polarized, but that can't go on forever."
As Head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE, Davit Harutyunyan also touched upon the statement made by Zaruhi Postanjyan about replacing Co-Reporters Prescott and Colombie.
"That is an important issue and the Monitoring Committee touched upon that a long time ago. Perhaps they can place a rotation system and set a timeframe for all co-reporters."
As for the co-reporters on Armenia, Harutyunyan said that Prescott and Colombie are political figures with expertise. Talking about the PACE summer session during which the Armenian issue will be discussed, particularly the release of political prisoners, Harutyunyan mentioned the completed legislative reforms and the change of accusations.
"There is another issue that depends on the judicial process and it may have an impact on the evaluation on Armenia. I can't say how the Co-Chairs will evaluate."
In regard to the statements made by US Co-Chair on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement Matthew Bryza and then the denial of those statements, Davit Harutyunyan stated that he agrees with Republican Armen Ashotyan's evaluation that it would be better if Bryza talked English and not Russian.
