Prime Minister meets with ARF Executive Council

Armenia's Prime Minister Armen Sarkissian met a delegation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Executive Council of Armenia, comprising of Rouben Hakobian, Hrayr Karapetian and Gagik Mkrtchian, on Friday, December 13, 1996, to discuss his new program of development for Armenia.

During the hour-long meeting, the ARF delegation congratulated the newly-appointed prime minister, and stressed the importance of involving political parties in resolving the current internal political crisis. Regarding the government's program which was recently presented to the National Assembly, the ARF delegation pointed out that in its entirity it corresponds to the platform of the ARF, and expressed their readiness to assist the government in implementing it's program.

The Prime Minister expressed his readiness to work will all factions in order to resolve the national issues facing Armenia.

Following the meeting, in an interview with the local press, Gagik Mgrtchian said that both sides had agreed to meet in the future as well, to reach to a working relationship, in which the ARF will assist the government in its endeavours.

Mgrtchian also said that during the meeting with the Prime Minister, the ARF delegation has raised the issue of the party's legal status. The Prime Minister has taken note of the fact that following the initial six-month suspension of the ARF, the Supreme Court had refused the Justice Ministry's request to extend the suspension for another year, although the Justice Ministry has continued to regard the ARF as suspended. Furthermore, the Justice Ministry has not complied with the law by not responding to the ARF's application for a review of its revised by-laws. The law requires the Justice Ministry to respond within a month of filing the application and the application has been filed on August 12, 1996. The Prime Minister has promised that shortly the ARF will recive a response.

The ARF supports the Government's program

Gagik Mkrtchian also told the local press that the ARF supports the Government's program for its social orientation and the supervising role of the State in economic matters, envisaged in the Government's program. Following the presentation of the Government's program to the National Assembly, Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossian had called on the deputies to support the program and had pledged to support it himself, "in as much as it corresponds to my election platform."

"Man is our main wealth, and all reforms, carried out in society, should be directed for his benefit," Prime Minister of Armenia Armen Sarkissian said, outlining the government's program at an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly.

The main points in the new Prime Minister's program are acceleration and correction of the economic reforms, an upgraded social policy, and state support to education, science and culture. The government will proceed from macro-economic transformations to a stable economic growth. It will focus on areas stricken by the quake in 1988, and use foreign investments for their restoration.

According to the Government's program, market reforms in the republic need qualitative improvement. It is necessary to form market infrastructures, work out a reform of judicial and legal systems, improve the banking system and liberalise commercial activities.

Prime Minister Armen Sarkissian admitted that the process of primitive accumulation of capital in Armenia had resulted in sharp polarisation of society, as a result of which a considerable part of the people found themselves in hard living conditions. Poor sections of the population comprise 30 per cent of the entire people, the premier stated.

He also mentioned numerous difficulties, which peasants had experienced after land privatisation.

"The purpose of the government's economic policy is to guarantee stable economic growth and a rise in living standards," the premier said.

This requires the promotion of the private sector, a definite tax policy, the development of a clear structure of government spending, guarantees of low and predictable inflation, the development of the most important parts of the infrastructure (power supplies, the municipal economy, transport, communications), and the formation of a system of direct social security, he explained.

Sarkissian called for changing the present situation whereby production has become less profitable than the distribution and redistribution of goods.

A policy of stable economic growth must be adopted in the years to come, the Prime Minister said, adding that the investment climate should be liberalized, the effectiveness of investments raised, a skillful labor force used and an anti-trust policy pursued.

The Prime Minister emphasized the necessity of a new system of government's relations with the mass media. He said, in particular, that radio and television, information agencies, press distribution agencies will no more be subordinated to the government.

National Alliance Bloc boycotts local elections

The National Alliance Bloc — comprised of the National Democratic Union, the National Self-Determination Union, the Democratic Party of Armenia, the Artsakh-Haiastan organization, the Constitutional Rights Union, Armenian Revolutionary Federation — boycotted the Armenian local elections, which were held on October ..., 1996.

In a declaration the National Alliance Bloc states that "Democracy has been dealt a serious blow in Armenia, making it impossible to resolve political matters through a free exchange of ideas, signalling the creation of a police state, as witnessed during the 1995 parliamentary elections and the referendum on the Constitution, both of which were marred by blatant violations and breaches in the law. The latest attempt by authorities to hold on to power at any cost through Armenia's power ministries was the September 22 presidential elections.

"The tense political climate in the aftermath of the elections has made it impossible to hold fair and democratic elections in Armenia.

"Under the current legal, political and social conditions, the National Alliance believes the participation in the local elections would be moot."

Constitutional Court rejects opposition protest

YEREVAN (Yerevan, Noyan Tapan, Reuter)Armenia's Constitutional Court on November 22 rejected the opposition protest for the results of a presidential election in September to be annulled, following which national alliance presidential candidate Vazgen Manoukian called for new presidential elections and a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

The decision adopted by the Constitutional Court put an end to one more phase in the struggle, Manoukian said adding , however, the problem still persists.

We believe that new elections should be held in Armenia, Manoukian said at a Friday news conference.

He said the opposition has not departed from its earlier aims new parliamentary elections, a new Constitution and a new government to be formed on the principle of professionalism.

In petitioning the Constitutional Court of Armenia, the opposition hoped to make it possible for the authorities to come out of the existing deadlock with honor, as well as to secure conditions favorable for the democratic development of the country, and to draw international attention to evidence of widespread violations during the election process, Manoukian said.

In addition, by choosing to redress its grievances through constitutional channels, the opposition showed the people of Armenia an alternative path to settling disputes, Manoukian said.

He noted that the Constitutional Court scrutinized a very small number of documents, but, even that was enough to see that the Court's decision does not correspond to the real state of affairs. A situation has been created when the leadership, its policies, work method and intellectual and moral levels do not meet the population's requirements, and this, as everybody knows, may lead to the appearance of destructive forces, he said.

With neither the election nor the Constitutional Court having resolved the problem, Manoukian said that only a revolution or an early election might be the answer.

He did not rule out talks initiated by the current leadership, and according to Manoukian, it is the will of the people, the pressure by international organizations and the inability to continue to effectively rule that will make the authorities negotiate with the opposition. Manoukian stressed that they would be negotiating for a jointly-planned new elections rather than jointly ruling the country.

New elections can take place only when the leadership is forced to comply in the presence of an outside force and changes in existing legislation are made, he said.

Manoukian had said he doubted that the court, composed of judges appointed by the president and a parliament dominated by the president's bloc, would rule in his favor.

European Parliament calls for new elections

The European Parliament, on November 14th, adopted a resolution calling for new elections in Armenia in areas where serious breaches were reported during the September 22nd presidential elections. The text of the resolution follows:

The European Parliament

A. Whereas presidential elections were held in Armenia on 22 September, 1996

B. Whereas international observers, such as the OSCE/ODIHR International Observer Mission, noted numerous irregularities and 'some very serious breaches of the electoral law', for example a significant disparity between the number of people who voted and the number of voter coupons registered in the official results,

C. Whereas, according to official results, the candidate, President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, was reelected by a small margin (51.7% of the votes), and whereas the observed irregularities and breaches therefore cause concern for the overall legitimacy of the elections,

D. Whereas much of the press has been silenced, and whereas one of the major opposition parties was banned during the last year,

E. Whereas eight members of Parliament were arrested, the headquarters of the main contender's party were closed down and troops and tanks sent on to the streets of Yerevan in response to protests concerning the elections,

F. Whereas the EU plans to conclude a partnership and cooperation agreement with Armenia,

1. Notes that Armenia has developed economically and politically in many important aspects since its independence but deeply deplores the regression of which the recent elections are an example;

2. Calls for new elections in those areas where serious breaches of electoral law were reported;

3. Condemns the undemocratic treatment to which the opposition parties

and media have been subjected and urges the Armenian Government to

guarantee media freedom and freedom of speech and association;

4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission, the Council and to the Armenian President and Parliament.

SI Statement on Armenian Elections

Following the final statement issued by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe after the presidential elections in Armenia and the reports by other observers of numerous irregularities and breaches of the electoral law, the Socialist International expresses its support for the demands of the ARF Armenian Socialist Party and other opposition forces for a recount of the ballots cast to be held at the earliest opportunity, in the presence of representatives of the opposition and of international observers.

Socialist International
October 16, 1996