Vahan Hovhannisyan: "I am gullible"
Head of the NA ARF faction Vahan Hovhannisyan says the dangers of the field assessment mission scheduled in the surrounding areas of Nagorno-Karabakh from October 4 to 14 are evident.
"Before the visits of such fact-finding groups, the Armenian authorities announce that everything is fine and that there are no settlements in those territories. Why aren't they resettling? Where should the refugees of Baku live? What about the people who were driven from Karabakh to Sumgait and then moved out through massacres? Where is their homeland?" Mr. Hovhannisyan told "A1+".
According to him, Armenia must clearly state that there are Armenians living in those territories. "They were deported by the Azerbaijani and have returned to the historical territories."
According to Vahan Hovhannisyan, the Armenian authorities must tell the Fact-Finding Group that they will conduct surveys among the people living in those territories to find out whether they want to meet with the group or not.
Touching upon "Heritage" faction's draft law on Armenia's recognition of the NKR's independence, Mr. Hovhannisyan said: "That is a question that should not cause a debate and should be passed with all 131 votes. If there is even a small doubt that the resolution may not pass 100%, it must be postponed."
Speaking about the latest tragic events in the army, Mr. Hovhannisyan said: "The army commanders should touch upon the cases as a whole and find out whether the officers' morale and level of education meets their objectives. The whole meaning of the army is discipline."
Will the authorities falsify 100 percent?
Vahan Hovhannisyan doesn't exclude force-majeur situations, but had a hard time predicting the results of the upcoming state elections in Armenia. "If we hold another one or two elections that don't correspond to international standards, Armenia will cross the border and will have a hard time returning through reforms."
As far as the predictions by the ruling party and sociologists like Aharon Adibekyan according to which the Republican Party of Armenia and "Bargavach Hayastan" (Prosperous Armenia) will be the top two winners during the elections, Vahan Hovhannisyan said: "Aharon Adibekyan and others like him have turned the field so profane that I find it nonsensical to discuss anything."
According to Mr. Hovhannisyan, a political party that is 100 percent sure that it will win in the elections is either sure that it has worked so hard and has provided so much to the people or is sure that it will falsify the elections 100 percent. "There is no alternative," said Vahan Hovhannisyan, adding that the authorities go with the second version.
Is the ANC using ARF's terminology?
According to Vahan Hovhannisyan, the ANC has started using ARF's terminology. "The ANC used to demand Serzh Sargsyan's resignation, but now it wants change of power as a whole."
As for the rumors according to which Serzh Sargsyan and Gagik Tsarukyan have serious discrepancies, Vahan Hovhannisyan doesn't believe in that. "I am gullible."
