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Voting For The ARF Means Voting For The Future

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  • Voting For The ARF Means Voting For The Future

    VOTING FOR THE ARF MEANS VOTING FOR THE FUTURE
    By Sevak Hakobian

    Yerkir.am
    April 27, 2007

    Member of the ARF's Supreme Body, Minister of Agriculture Davit Lokian,
    member of the ARF's Supreme Body Haykazun Alvrtsian, candidate Eteri
    Sevoyan, ARF member and Consul General of Armenia in Saint Petersburg
    Ruben Hakobian and head of the vocational education department at the
    Ministry of Science and Education Ruben Gasparian visited Byureghavan
    on April 26. During the meeting with the community residents they
    explained why people should vote for the ARF.

    "The road ARF proposes you to choose will allow us to gather here
    in 5 years and be proud of reporting to you, and you will be content
    with our work. To vote for the ARF means to vote for the future that
    we will build with the realistic program the party is proposing,"
    Alvrtsian said in his statement addressed to the residents of
    Byureghavan. We need system changes today, we need a drastic change of
    the situation. The ARF has its own approach to these reforms and can
    propose a clearcut timeline for achieving such change, Alvrtsian said.

    Davit Lokian stated in his speech that people know about the ARF form
    different sources: in the Soviet period the ARF was presented in a
    negative light.

    For the past 17 years the voters can judge about the party based on
    its activities.

    "We do everything to ensure Armenia's security. It is important
    to solve geopolitical issues so that we can live in peace in this
    region. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the Hay Dat issue
    is of primary importance for us and we are pursuing these causes
    everywhere," Lokian said. Today the issue of opening the border with
    Turkey is widely discussed. In this context, some political forces
    argue that it is because of the ARF that we cannot open the border.

    Lokian presented a counter-argument to this position. In the beginning
    of 1990's when the ARF was neutralized the issue of opening the border
    was also on the agenda.

    What couldn't they solve it? Wasn't ARF neutralized in that
    time? Answering this question, Lokian stated that the reason is that
    Turkey itself is putting forward preconditions, namely, settlement
    of the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan which implies a
    settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict in favor of Azerbaijan.

    ARF is a part of the political coalition and is trying to solve a
    number of problems in sectors it leads. It does not matter whether
    or not the ARF will get into the parliament or will join the
    government. ARF will always work to solve the problems the people
    are facing.

    "ARF insists on the application of the principle of social
    justice. People cannot permanently believe that this is a transition
    period. The transition period has already passed and it is time that
    every citizen could get the government's support," Lokian said. ARF
    knows about the problems the country is facing very well and it has
    solutions for all these problems. ARF has always taken a firm position
    when implementing these solutions.

    "We need a political party that would take the responsibility for
    solving these problems," Lokian said. He believes we need changes in
    the public administration system because there is overlap between the
    functions of different structures. Lokian believes it will be possible
    to regulate these issues by amending the Law on Community Management,
    the Law on Economic Management and the Law on the Government.

    The voters will hear lots of statements like this during the electoral
    campaign and will have difficulties differentiating between different
    opinions. " Be careful and pay attention to whether this or that
    party can solve the issues it is raising," Lokian said.

    Changing parties has become a profession

    Ruben Hakobian said the ARF representatives have come to say why people
    should vote for the ARF. "We are not trying to convince you. We are
    just saying that we are a party that has a biography. You are the
    ones to decide whether this is good or bad. But we are proud of our
    biography, our comrades are proud of it. If you have followed our
    party members' activities you have probably noticed that they have
    remained the same for the past 17 years, they have not left the ARF
    to join other parties.

    They were together in the prisons and in times of struggle, they were
    together in times of success. The political arena was distorted and
    changing parties became a profession for some individuals. It is not
    bad that there are many parties, this makes it possible to choose
    among them. There is an English proverb that says, "People deserve
    the government they have." You might say that there are many unworthy
    people among the government.

    Do the people deserve such a government? How do such people enter the
    parliament?" Hakobian said noting that a polarized and scared society
    cannot solve any problems. Meanwhile the ARF is suggesting that the
    society should unite. " I believe that you will vote as your conscience
    tells you. It does not matter for whom you will vote. What matters is
    that you should not sell your votes and your future," Hakobian stated.

    Head of the Department of Universities at the Ministry of Science
    and Education Ruben Gasparian noted that in the past it was probably
    possible to cheat the voters but today people do not trust mere words.

    "Today the platform the political forces present is important for
    the voters. Some forces might present a platform but they do not have
    the resources to implement it. ARF does not present a platform that
    cannot be implemented. The education sector was once again entrusted
    to the ARF one year ago and positive changes were accomplished in
    this period. Every citizen knows deep in his heart for whom he is
    going to vote and I hope you will vote for the ARF," Gasparian said.

    A number of issues relating to the education, social and agricultural
    sectors were raised during the meeting. The ARF representatives also
    met the residents of Nor Hachn and Garni communities.
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