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Panorama.am talked to a Member of RA National Assembly, member of RPA Council Artak Zakarian about political campaign, political priorities and plans for the future of the Republican Party of Armenia.

- Do you agree that in order to guarantee fair, transparent and honest elections, all parties of the electoral process should work on that? If so, then, how does your party envisages its activities during the election campaign and on the Election Day to ensure the transparency and fairness of the electoral process? Please list in points.

- At present one of the most important tasks for our country is to conduct high quality elections. It is an indisputable fact, and anyone who really cares about the future of our country must make its potential contribution to ensure the objectivity, transparency and fairness of elections.

Republican Party goes to the polls through implementing all the requirements of the Election Code, by maintaining in its election campaign tolerance, moral and legal norms, as well as the rules of political and civic responsibility.

Today everyone promises to do everything possible to run free, fair and democratic elections. To do this, one first needs to know how to be responsible and bear the political responsibility for the past and future, to realize his/her own role, and not to artificially overestimate the performance of that role by unreasonable criticism.

It's easy to make false and fabricated statements to the public, to protect the results of the election from vote frauds by some unknown forces, strive at all costs to protect their existing or non-existing votes, protect society from some non-existing pressure, or to encourage the society. These phenomena are, in my opinion, aimed at performing artificial tension and, in case of dissatisfaction with the election results, sow distrust toward them by distorting public opinion and the information environment. Today, there are forces that implement this policy and, unfortunately, while speaking of the significance of the elections for our country, in order to attract supporters on the grounds make other illegitimate statements and promises.

In the political system of our country there have been cases when responsibility has been avoided in most crucial moments.
The Republican Party of Armenia has won huge public confidence due to the fact that we have always stood on the front line in addressing critical issues for our country, and on May 6th we will do our best to strengthen and improve the image of our country. For this purpose there exists an army of professional party members and associates, toughened by electoral campaigns, and who have the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge, and political beliefs. And on Election Day they will do their best to ensure the decent victory of the Republican Party. This means we are going to conduct such free, fair and transparent elections, which would be hard to sully.

-Who do you consider to be your main voters? How would you characterize them?

- The Republican Party is a mass-based party, it has a universal pre-election program and a national-conservative ideology close to every Armenian. Our voters are from all walks of society, from the representatives of extremely vulnerable groups to the representatives of most secured class. Election motivation depends on what problems our voters consider most important at this stage. Our voters and even those who are not going to vote for us, are convinced that the Republican Party never made empty promises, never squandered the words to sweeten someone's ear, never promoted through populism. Our voters are those who realize the importance of their mission to build our country, who bow down before the heroic chronicle of Artsakh, earned in blood, who appreciate the tireless efforts aimed at resolving this conflict. Our voters are the ones who know what the National Army is, and what it means to build own schools, kindergartens, cultural and sports centers, roads, power and other facilities for the public welfare. Our voters are people who know that the Republican Party will be there in any matter. Our voters are people who are well aware of the need for our country to succeed in foreign relations, because only through security and foreign assistance it would be possible to ensure the development of agriculture, economy, culture and science, to create jobs and build prosperous life. Our voters are those who appreciate the efforts aimed at community development. Motivations to vote for the Republican Party are numerous, and it is impossible to list all of them. I would like to add that even those who are not going to vote for us know that the Republican Party is responsible for the entire society, and is responsible to the entire society.

- Which political forces involved in the election race, do you consider to be your main competitors, adversaries? First, in terms of ideology, and secondly, in terms of resources and opportunities.

- Theoretically all political forces are competitors. Here there are no adversaries. Our enemy is on the opposite side of our eastern borders. From the ideological point of view, Legacy, ARF and Communist party (to some extend) are trying to compete with the Republican Party. For other political forces the political struggle is limited to social and routine problems. In political terms, Rule of Law Party, ARF, Heritage and the Armenian National Congress possess some competing resources. And in terms of organizational resources I would highlight three parties: Prosperous Armenia, ARF and the Armenian National Congress. In terms of public confidence the Republican Party has no competitors.

- How would you estimate your chances and the chances of your competitors at this point (in percentage)?

-I must say that for this purpose there exist well-known and credible international polling organizations, whose data on research and interviews, as a rule, are consistent with the results of elections held in different countries. As you know, according to these studies, the Republican Party is the clear leader. I am sure that the votes of our people will enable our party to maintain a political majority and continue to act as the only real and responsible political force.

- What are the political forces involved in the election race, that you are ready to form an alliance with after the elections, and would you name those with which you exclude such cooperation?

- The answer to this question will be more realistic after the elections, as everything is possible in politics and nothing can be excluded.

- What three bills would your party pass first in the case of majority in the newly formed parliament? What problems will these bills be called upon to solve?

- Laws must not be considered important or unimportant. All applied laws meet the general interests of the state. We have already stated that in the next five years we are going to focus on the needs of our citizens and will try to solve their various problems, ranging from social to legal. Laws proposed on the initiative of the Republican Party in the next parliament, will address most critical issues - any Armenian, regardless of his/her scope of activities and social status, must trust and believe, and in the future must be sure that the laws introduced by the Republican Party derive from the interests of anyone and everyone. Laws must protect and support every citizen of our country. Therefore, besides writing good laws, we must first believe that they will be able to change all that has long been ingrained in us and has been preventing us from moving forward. We all, including our opponents, want to change the negative aspects of our lives. But unlike them, we are convinced that we can succeed, and we do encourage everybody to believe in order to change. It is impossible to succeed in what you are doing without faith and confidence. We are going to add this reasoning to the philosophy and goals of our proposed laws.

- In case of a possible coalition with other political forces, what three provisions of your campaign would you mention to be included in a united coalition program?

- The election program of the Republican Party includes 20 major provisions, and each of them is a priority for the future of our country. In my opinion, there are no such provisions among them, which could be excluded from future government projects. These are interconnected steps aimed at developing and ensuring prosperity of our society. I have examined the electoral programs of almost all participants of the electoral process. And I think that there is no program more realistic, more reliable and more practical than the program of the Republican Party. There are some common features. I believe that all the provisions of the program proposed by the Republican Party are necessary for the future.

- What three promises of your political campaign would you be able to keep if, however, the Republican Party will not be able of gaining a majority in the elections and will not be involved in any political coalition?

- This question will better be answered by other political forces. The Republican Party is a political force that will not disappear from the political arena, even if it is not included in the government. It will continue its political struggle and work in the name of the state and society. I am sure that in the next five years, Republican Party will continue its struggle in the parliament in majority, and with public support will do its utmost to implement its election program.

- If you manage to get a parliamentary majority in elections and form a single-party government, what changes would the Republican Party make in the current course of international relations?

- Our party, headed by its leader, RA president Mr. Serzh Sargsyan, will continue its fostered policies of international relations. In terms of enhancing the role of Armenia in international relations, we will increase our diplomatic efforts to prevent any aggression against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. From constructive positions we will proceed to an active policy aimed at recognizing the right of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination. The foreign policy will be aimed at increasing private investment and our county’s national competitiveness and search for new markets for Armenian products. We will increase our efforts and expand the programs aimed at the European integration of our country. In particular, the agreement on deep and comprehensive free trade area will be signed. We will enhance the effectiveness of implementing trade, economic, military, energy, scientific, educational and cultural agreements signed with our strategic partner Russia. We will continue to deepen our cooperation with the USA, France, China, Iran, Georgia, India, Japan and other countries. In the next few years RPA will continue its efforts to prevent and condemn genocide, as well as efforts to ensure that issues relating to the liquidation of their consequences were on the agenda of the international community. On the eve of the Armenian Genocide 100th anniversary we will combine the efforts of all Armenian people in the recognition and condemnation of the Genocide. We are going to continue the process of Turkish-Armenian relations normalization, in case if Turkey manifests sufficient political will without any preconditions.

-Could you indicate where you are going to take the resources (financial, material, human, etc.) to help implement your campaign promises?

- All the financial, legal, informational, scientific and human resources necessary to implement political power exist in the institutions of public governance. That is why for any normal political force coming to power is not the goal but a means to implement its political programs. We declare that, in recent years we have been busy creating governmental structures, substructures and public institutions, i.e. the creating the necessary resources. As a state, we already possess sufficient resources to devote the next few years to building better Armenia for every citizen.