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ARMENIA IS ALSO EUROPE
New Eastern Europe
Feb 22 2013
Zbigniew Rokita talks with Raffi K. Hovannisian, leader of Armenia's
opposition party Heritage.
ZBIGNIEW ROKITA: Many people with whom I talked to here in Yerevan
as well as the provinces have told me that they didn't believe that
something could change as a result of the presidential elections. How
do you plan to convince them that it is otherwise?
RAFFI HOVANNISIAN: We can't generalise. Interest in the results is
rather high. I don't know who you were talking to, I respect their
opinion, but you were here at the demonstration on Wednesday and
saw that it gathered around 15,000 people. Excitement was clearly in
the air.
Will the fact that Europe has recognised the results of these elections
make it difficult for you to question them?
I don't know what Europe is. Are you European? In the preliminary
report issued by the OSCE we read that the elections did indeed take
place calmly, but it also stresses that the state's administrative
resources were used to influence the final results. The case in point
is, for example, using state funds to support a given candidate. It
isn't Europe's role to decide whether the elections were fair or
not; whether they have, indeed, met democratic standards or not,
and whether their results have reflected the nation's will.
These are the questions that should be answered by the people of
Armenia. I am not sure if there is such a thing as one Europe. And
even if this Europe, which you are talking about, says something, we
shouldn't forget that Armenia is one of its sources. Also, Armenia
has its own constitution, its own elections which have been forged
and taken away from its own people.
We don't want Europe to refer to the will of our nation without
respect, we don't want Europe, for geopolitical reasons, to issue
ridiculous statements about our elections. That is why people still
gather here. For over 20 years their voices have been stolen, and
they haven't been allowed to carry out fair elections. Armenians are
fed up with this.
How long do you plan to continue protesting against the forgery of
these elections?
It's not a protest. We are celebrating the victory of the nation. We
are sick and tired of the protests. However, we will continue by
showing these gestures of discontent by using all possible legal means
to return the power to the people. The power that has been taken away
from them.
Raffi K. Hovannisian is an Armenian politician, the first foreign
minister of Armenia, and the founding leader of the Heritage party.
Zbigniew Rokita works for Nowa Europa Wschodnia. He is a student of
Russian Studies at the Jagiellonian Univeristy in Krakow, Poland.
http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/674
From: Baghdasarian
New Eastern Europe
Feb 22 2013
Zbigniew Rokita talks with Raffi K. Hovannisian, leader of Armenia's
opposition party Heritage.
ZBIGNIEW ROKITA: Many people with whom I talked to here in Yerevan
as well as the provinces have told me that they didn't believe that
something could change as a result of the presidential elections. How
do you plan to convince them that it is otherwise?
RAFFI HOVANNISIAN: We can't generalise. Interest in the results is
rather high. I don't know who you were talking to, I respect their
opinion, but you were here at the demonstration on Wednesday and
saw that it gathered around 15,000 people. Excitement was clearly in
the air.
Will the fact that Europe has recognised the results of these elections
make it difficult for you to question them?
I don't know what Europe is. Are you European? In the preliminary
report issued by the OSCE we read that the elections did indeed take
place calmly, but it also stresses that the state's administrative
resources were used to influence the final results. The case in point
is, for example, using state funds to support a given candidate. It
isn't Europe's role to decide whether the elections were fair or
not; whether they have, indeed, met democratic standards or not,
and whether their results have reflected the nation's will.
These are the questions that should be answered by the people of
Armenia. I am not sure if there is such a thing as one Europe. And
even if this Europe, which you are talking about, says something, we
shouldn't forget that Armenia is one of its sources. Also, Armenia
has its own constitution, its own elections which have been forged
and taken away from its own people.
We don't want Europe to refer to the will of our nation without
respect, we don't want Europe, for geopolitical reasons, to issue
ridiculous statements about our elections. That is why people still
gather here. For over 20 years their voices have been stolen, and
they haven't been allowed to carry out fair elections. Armenians are
fed up with this.
How long do you plan to continue protesting against the forgery of
these elections?
It's not a protest. We are celebrating the victory of the nation. We
are sick and tired of the protests. However, we will continue by
showing these gestures of discontent by using all possible legal means
to return the power to the people. The power that has been taken away
from them.
Raffi K. Hovannisian is an Armenian politician, the first foreign
minister of Armenia, and the founding leader of the Heritage party.
Zbigniew Rokita works for Nowa Europa Wschodnia. He is a student of
Russian Studies at the Jagiellonian Univeristy in Krakow, Poland.
http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/674
From: Baghdasarian