Epress.am News from Armenia
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukyan and new BHK member Vartan Oskanian, both speaking at the BHK’s sixth congress today, placed importance on the problem of increasing emigration out of Armenia. Oskanian said it’s important to ask why are people leaving?
“They’re leaving because they’ve lost hope and faith in the future of the country. They’re going because of injustice. They’re going because they have no confidence. They’re going because they can’t earn their daily bread,” said former foreign minister Oskanian (in the video below).
Oskanian’s words were echoed by party leader, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan, who also believed the reason many are leaving the country is the inability to earn an income.
“If we don’t find a solution to this problem soon, then the emigration number will become an increasingly large percentage [of the population],” he said, suggesting the solution lies in developing small and medium businesses.
Finding a solution the problem of emigration is a large part of the BHK’s election platform, Tsarukyan added. To this end, the party pledges “to pay special attention to the development of small and medium entrepreneurship and to the methods of state patronage for this.”
Note, only parties represented in parliament were invited to the congress, which was held in the large hall of the Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex in Yerevan: Present were representatives of the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), Rule of Law (Orinats Yerkir), Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and Heritage Party. HHK leader, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan (pictured below, center), also in attendance, noticeably, did not give a speech.
What perhaps may have been a reference to reports of discordance between BHK and HHK, Tsarukyan made a point of mentioning that his party is not “disposed to hostility” toward any political party in Armenia.
“We are not searching for enemies inside our country and we have to come out of the May 6 parliamentary elections united. We don’t need hostility,” said Tsarukyan.
Oskanian also addressed improved relations among parties, emphasizing the importance of putting aside differences and working together to effect change.
“All is needed is political will that those who come to power will be able to put aside their personal, fragmentary and partisan interests and simply be able to apply Armenia’s Constitution and its laws equally to everyone,” he said.
“This assumes that the fundamental principles of a free market are protected in the economic sector — equal opportunities, free competition, immunity of property; and in the political sector — fundamental principles of democracy: justice, tolerance and freedom of speech and of the individual.
“These will be the main guidelines of the Prosperous Armenia Party’s activity in the next five years,” he added.
Apart from local politicians, also present at the congress were foreign diplomats who, in conversation with Epress.am, said they were attending to better understand the political situation in the country.
“I’ve come to analyze. I was also present at the congresses of the Republican Party of Armenia, the Heritage Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation [Dashnaktsutyun]. I’m here to understand the political situation,” said German Ambassador to Armenia Hans-Jochen Schmidt.
“We’ve received an invitation to attend the congress only from BHK. If we receive invitations from other parties, we’ll also go there,” said Chinese charge d’affaires in Armenia Zhao Wing Wen.
EU Ambassador to Armenia Traian Hristea also mentioned he is attending the congress as an observer — to better understand the domestic political situation.
United Russia party leader Boris Gryzlov, whose welcoming remarks were read by Russian State Duma Deputy Chair Sergei Neverov, wished BHK success in the upcoming parliamentary elections, noting that the cooperation between Russia’s ruling party and the BHK are extremely important for the development of Armenian-Russian relations.