Tweet
THE MISSION OF TH PUBLIC COUNCIL
LILIT POGHOSYAN
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
20 Sep 2008
Armenia
KHOSROV HAROUTYUNYAN, leader of the Armenian Christian Democratic Party
and member of the committee preparing the activities of the Public
Council, answers the questions of `Hayots Ashkharh'
`Mr. Haroutyunyan, at what stage is the process of the formation of the
Public Council, and when will it come to its logical end?'
`The legal documents concerning the activities of the Council are
almost prepared. Over the past 2-3 months, the committee which was set
up by the decree of the President demonstrated a conscientious, correct
and, I won't avoid saying, responsible attitude towards its mission.
By and large, some groups of society are still dissatisfied with the
activities of the state government bodies. There is an opinion that the
country's top leadership is not always aware of what is going on and
what the situation in separate regions is. Many people view this
council as a real opportunity for making the voice of a citizen heard
by the President.'
`By what principle is the council going to be replenished? What staff,
how many members and what structure is it going to have?'
`One of our concerns was to prevent this body from becoming a council
of Yerevan and somehow promote representation from the marzes as well.
At the same
time, it was comprehensible that the presence of the
representatives from all the marzes at the plenary sessions would
complicate the activities of the Council and turn this body into a kind
of ungovernable structure.
I find that the path we chose was quite interesting. We specified in
our Charter that the Public Council should have a committee which may
consist of all the interested people both from Yerevan and the marzes,
as well as the regions. Not being members of the council, they may have
an essential participation in its activities and make it a more active
body. That's to say, there will be council consisting of a few members,
which, however, will provide opportunities for many working meetings
and a broad cooperation to the greatest possible extent. I believe this
formula turned out a success.
It should also be noted that we didn't almost feel the `presence' of
the President of the republic in this period; we were completely free
in our approaches and agreed on this formula after heated discussions
and debates. The preparation of the Charter is almost over; it just
needs some technical proofreading and clarification of legal
formulations. Thereafter, the document will be submitted to the
President.
This will be an advisory body which will enable the President to feel
the `pulse' of the public on the one hand and, why not, consider the
public opinion while makin
g decisions on the other. Let me note that
the whole sense and attraction of participatory governance consists in
this.'
`Do you consider the Republican's decision on replacing Tigran Torosyan
with Hovik Abrahamyan in the post of the NA Speaker justified?'
`Personally I highly appreciate Tigran Torosyan as a serious,
reasonable political figure possessing intellectual abilities.
I also know Hovik Abrahamyan very well. Since 1991, I have communicated
with him on different occasions first in the status of the Mayor and
the Provincial Governor of Artashat and later ` in the status of the
Minister of Territorial Administration and the Deputy Prime Minister. I
can state that he is one of the few people who knows our republic and
state government system to the morrow.
Even the opposition-run press admits that his organizational abilities
can be useful in terms of raising the effectiveness of the activities
of the National Assembly.
We should also bear in mind that both de facto and de jure, the chief
structure responsible for the political qualities and effectiveness of
the parliament is the Republican Party, and the authority of making
such decisions is vested in this particular political party. I don't
think that accusing anyone would be the right thing to do at this point.
`How do you estimate the tactics adopted by the opposition for this
autumn? Can we become
the eye-witnesses of heated developments or is
the agenda already exhausted?'
`I think it's normal that the opposition can hold rallies and introduce
the opinions of some groups of society. I welcome it. As mentioned by
the President of the republic, all the political forces and citizens
should have the opportunity to express their own opinions within the
scope of the law. This conduct of the opposition is even useful for the
recovery of the public organism.
As for the contents of the political processes, I see a certain
qualitative progress in this respect as well. I believe the opposition
realizes that the political activeness can also be maintained by making
a gradual transition to a more realistic and constructive plan of
actions, and that the slogan `Serge, go away!' is no longer viable.
Such political conduct has no prospect. Instead of doing that, it is
necessary to participate in the elections to the local self-government
bodies and voice one's own approaches. This is what has been mentioned
many times. The authorities should always feel the breath of the
opposition.'
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
LILIT POGHOSYAN
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
20 Sep 2008
Armenia
KHOSROV HAROUTYUNYAN, leader of the Armenian Christian Democratic Party
and member of the committee preparing the activities of the Public
Council, answers the questions of `Hayots Ashkharh'
`Mr. Haroutyunyan, at what stage is the process of the formation of the
Public Council, and when will it come to its logical end?'
`The legal documents concerning the activities of the Council are
almost prepared. Over the past 2-3 months, the committee which was set
up by the decree of the President demonstrated a conscientious, correct
and, I won't avoid saying, responsible attitude towards its mission.
By and large, some groups of society are still dissatisfied with the
activities of the state government bodies. There is an opinion that the
country's top leadership is not always aware of what is going on and
what the situation in separate regions is. Many people view this
council as a real opportunity for making the voice of a citizen heard
by the President.'
`By what principle is the council going to be replenished? What staff,
how many members and what structure is it going to have?'
`One of our concerns was to prevent this body from becoming a council
of Yerevan and somehow promote representation from the marzes as well.
At the same
time, it was comprehensible that the presence of the
representatives from all the marzes at the plenary sessions would
complicate the activities of the Council and turn this body into a kind
of ungovernable structure.
I find that the path we chose was quite interesting. We specified in
our Charter that the Public Council should have a committee which may
consist of all the interested people both from Yerevan and the marzes,
as well as the regions. Not being members of the council, they may have
an essential participation in its activities and make it a more active
body. That's to say, there will be council consisting of a few members,
which, however, will provide opportunities for many working meetings
and a broad cooperation to the greatest possible extent. I believe this
formula turned out a success.
It should also be noted that we didn't almost feel the `presence' of
the President of the republic in this period; we were completely free
in our approaches and agreed on this formula after heated discussions
and debates. The preparation of the Charter is almost over; it just
needs some technical proofreading and clarification of legal
formulations. Thereafter, the document will be submitted to the
President.
This will be an advisory body which will enable the President to feel
the `pulse' of the public on the one hand and, why not, consider the
public opinion while makin
g decisions on the other. Let me note that
the whole sense and attraction of participatory governance consists in
this.'
`Do you consider the Republican's decision on replacing Tigran Torosyan
with Hovik Abrahamyan in the post of the NA Speaker justified?'
`Personally I highly appreciate Tigran Torosyan as a serious,
reasonable political figure possessing intellectual abilities.
I also know Hovik Abrahamyan very well. Since 1991, I have communicated
with him on different occasions first in the status of the Mayor and
the Provincial Governor of Artashat and later ` in the status of the
Minister of Territorial Administration and the Deputy Prime Minister. I
can state that he is one of the few people who knows our republic and
state government system to the morrow.
Even the opposition-run press admits that his organizational abilities
can be useful in terms of raising the effectiveness of the activities
of the National Assembly.
We should also bear in mind that both de facto and de jure, the chief
structure responsible for the political qualities and effectiveness of
the parliament is the Republican Party, and the authority of making
such decisions is vested in this particular political party. I don't
think that accusing anyone would be the right thing to do at this point.
`How do you estimate the tactics adopted by the opposition for this
autumn? Can we become
the eye-witnesses of heated developments or is
the agenda already exhausted?'
`I think it's normal that the opposition can hold rallies and introduce
the opinions of some groups of society. I welcome it. As mentioned by
the President of the republic, all the political forces and citizens
should have the opportunity to express their own opinions within the
scope of the law. This conduct of the opposition is even useful for the
recovery of the public organism.
As for the contents of the political processes, I see a certain
qualitative progress in this respect as well. I believe the opposition
realizes that the political activeness can also be maintained by making
a gradual transition to a more realistic and constructive plan of
actions, and that the slogan `Serge, go away!' is no longer viable.
Such political conduct has no prospect. Instead of doing that, it is
necessary to participate in the elections to the local self-government
bodies and voice one's own approaches. This is what has been mentioned
many times. The authorities should always feel the breath of the
opposition.'
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress