Don’t Make the Various Civic Struggles About Party Affiliation, Urges Raffi Hovannisian

The people are to blame for all the hardships in Armenia’s centuries-old history and now too the nation’s democratic future is at stake, said Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian at his party’s congress earlier today, while lending support for civic struggles.

“We have to praise the active civic involvement of our generation, the fight waged for Teghut, the fight waged for Mashtots Park, the fight waged for the purity of the Armenian language, the fight of mothers who’ve lost their soldier sons, the fight for those who have lost property, and we have to develop this — not make this struggle about party affiliation,” he said.

The party leader also urged state officials not to abuse their positions, using them to further their own personal interests.

Speaking about voting in the parliamentary elections on a party-list basis, Hovannisian said he was born in a country (i.e. the US) where this system is employed and it works because the US is a democratic country. In Armenia, however, this system is used to establish the authorities’ feudalist ranks.

Hovannisian welcomed his party’s collaboration with the Free Democrats, the Armenian National Congress, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and other parties in parliament.

At the end of his speech, the Member of Parliament declared, “At the end of the day, we will move mountains together since this is our homeland.”

Note, party and parliamentary faction reports were presented during the congress, after which the Heritage Party presented its “New Armenia” resolution for the 7th Congress.