Raffi Hovannisian Advises Armenian President to Meet with Opposition

In exactly four weeks, on Mar. 1–2, the Heritage Party will convene a congress where it will be decided whether to participate in the upcoming elections or not (and if so, the format of this participation), said party leader Raffi Hovannisian, speaking to journalists in the Armenian capital today.

According to him, the outcome of the congress will be made public, but until then, the party will be entering a “stage of self-awareness,” asking itself how it views its participation, what is the public demand, whether securing seats in parliament again is the only issue on the agenda, as well as other matters.

“If that’s the only issue that Heritage has to decide, then even without a congress we can say that at the next [parliamentary] session, if it wants, it can enter the National Assembly on a single-party list,” he said.

“We want to believe that Armenia is on the threshold of serious reform and the Heritage Party is obliged to participate in this movement to change the system, both in parliament and in the [public] square,” he said.

Hovannisian noted that his party welcomes the move on agreement, albeit belated, to transition to a proportional representation electoral list.

“It would be good if the incumbent president met with representatives of HAK [the Armenian National Congress], ARF-D [Armenian Revolutionary Federation or Dashnaktsutyun] and Heritage Party and interested delegates because everyone has been talking about political culture for the past 20 years and want to be the authors of this so-called culture. Finally, when the Armenian authorities make a statement in Brussels or in Yerevan, they have to have the commitment and political will to fulfill this promise,” he said.

Hovannisyan said at the forthcoming congress, the Heritage Party has to consider how much political forces are on the threshold of free, fair and legal elections.

“So that afterwards, neither the ruling authorities nor opposition members, neither the winners nor the losers, nor the one who announces the Central Electoral Commission’s findings, nor the person spending the night at the square will complain, but will know from now the rules of life in Armenia’s political scene,” he said.

Prior to the congress, the Heritage Party will make contact with the Free Democrats party, as well as other political parties, members of the public, civic groups and individuals.

Story updated at 4:45 pm on the same day for clarity.