Kocharian: Power struggle between two longtime partners inadmissible

The second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian gave an interview to Mediamax news agency. Below is the interview (with some abridgements).

“- Mister Kocharian, there were some expectations among the public regarding your participation in the presidential election, but it did not take place. What were your motives for making such a decision and what is your assessment of the present political situation?

- The political situation is so uninteresting that the only reason for this interview is my promise. Naturally, I know there were some expectations regarding my possible participation in the upcoming election. Although I never announced an intention to run in the election, I would like to give some explanations about my actions. I will indicate three main circumstances that caused me to refrain from returning to active politics.

The first circumstance is that a struggle for power between two natives of Karabakh, two longtime partners is inadmissible to me: this would create a situation of a difficult choice for many and also become a subject of speculation. Besides, at the time I myself proposed the incumbent President as my successor, and his desire to be re-elected is understandable.

The second one is that I do not wish to participate in the formation of an extremely unpleasant and, I am sure, harmful (to the country) format of the three presidents struggling for power.

The third circumstance: the search for a compromise in Armenia has turned into retail political trade. This is not what I would like to spend my time, knowledge and experience on.

Of course, these are not the fundamental factors, but I thought they are quite weighty from the emotional and ethical viewpoints.

- What can you say about the fundamental factors? In your previous interviews, you spoke about such factors as emigration, the economic situation, and political rivalry. What is your current opinion about these factors?

- Unfortunately, the fundamental factors do not inspire optimism today. The rates of the outflow of the population from Armenia have not declined, and this is not labor migration anymore. Given the low birth rate and the aging population, this is a very dangerous tendency. It is no accident that migration is considered a cardiogram showing the country’s health.

There has been economic growth, but will this growth be sustainable in the conditions of declining investments, and to what extent will it be conditioned by debt accumulation? … By the way, the resumption of rail communication in Abkhazia may become a serious positive factor for the economy, which becomes possible following the events in Georgia.

As regards the political rivalry, it has become a kind of “puppet” one ahead of the election, which does not contribute to efficiency of the work done by the authorities and also causes indifference in society.

As is known, without rivalry, perhaps the authorities sleep soundly, but the people live badly.

It will be very difficult to overcome these tendencies by calm efforts of the government. We need much more – all that will mobilize the society, inspire faith, and galvanize into action.

I hope that the authorities will overcome these challenges".