Epress.am News from Armenia
Civil Contract, a public–political union in Armenia, is turning into a political party, Nikol Pashinyan, a prominent Armenian opposition figure and member of the union's governing board, officially announced on Saturday, May 30. The new opposition party, he said, does not intend to stay in the status of opposition and will seek to take the power in state government on behalf of the Armenian people.
One of the means of implementing change of power, according to Pashinyan, is the formation of an institutional opposition which will be able to protect the people's votes in the elections, having at least 3 trustees at each polling station.
The newfound party makes it its top priority to encourage the involvement of all Armenians in the development of the country, the oppositionist said. If, according to him, the first 20 years of Armenia's independence were years of emigration, the next 2 decades have to become years of repatriation; the country's population should double, and the passport of the citizen of the Republic of Armenia should be the pride of its holders and the dream of Diaspora Armenians.
The existence of any pronounced leaders in the new party is excluded, the politician said, and the party should be led by the principle of collegiality not only de jure, but also de facto.
Arayik Harutyunyan, a member of the party, expressed his thoughts on the responsibility of the opposition, stating that in civilized countries parties report on their activities to the people, regardless of whether their actions were crowned with success. In the event of failure, the leaders resign, without ruling out their participation in the activities of the party in the status of an ordinary member, Harutyunyan said.
Excerpt from Nikol Pashinyan's speech [Armenian only]