May 6, 2008

Heritage Party Corrects Coalition Statement

The Heritage Party takes note of the collective statement, dated May 4, of the four parties which together constitute the ruling coalition in the Republic.  Because of its partisan and misleading nature, however, one point requires immediate rectification.

Had the intent of the coalition parties been to present the full truth to the public and to create the necessary environment for true political dialogue, they would not have blessed the names of Raffi Hovannisian and the Heritage Party with inclusion in their declaration.

Heritage is, of course, touched at the thought of being remembered, even if in passing, by the parties of power, but it is neither sufficient nor serious for them and their authorized representatives to speak declaratively about the imperative for honest discourse but then to proceed to undertake measures and unleash polemical interpretations which both belie the shallowness of their commitment and serve to deliver a reality that bears no relation whatsoever to even the most generous reading of their words.

For the record, when ten days ago presidential chief of staff Hovik Abrahamyan requested by telephone Heritage Party chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian’s consent to be named in an executive decree to an interdepartmental working group charged with preparing by May 10 a list of proposals to the president in connection with PACE Resolution 1609, Raffi Hovannisian informed Abrahamyan, inter alia, that he would be away from Armenia for family and professional reasons until that time.  Nonetheless, Hovannisian explicitly stated his and Heritage’s readiness to engage directly in a meaningful discourse with the president and his working group whenever deemed desirable.  What is more, the executive board of the Heritage Party communicated to the chief of staff its nomination of MP Stepan Safaryan to replace Hovannisian in the daily activities of the working group, and to this day has received no official response in this connection.

The coalition and those who author its statements are free, of course, to write whatever they want.  But if integrity means nothing, and their sole aim is to create a formal if superficial record to take something back to Strasbourg, then they should keep Raffi Hovannisian and the Heritage Party out of it.  Heritage does not need gratuitous, self-serving sermons on how and when and where to work.

If, on the other hand, there does reside a sober understanding of the gravity of the current crisis in the coalition’s pronouncements on the relevant PACE resolution and incorporated demands, in whose favor all of its delegates voted, then the Heritage Party stands ready in good faith to negotiate with the coalition and its leader for accomplishment of a program of national recovery for Hayastan and all of our people.

The Heritage Party

6 May 2008
Yerevan