“Our purpose is imparting a new face to the authorities, as people say, implementing regime change, and we have already done it”

Interview with Samvel Nikoyan, NA MP, member of RPA executive body.

Mr. Nikoyan, it’s stated that only in recent period 11 thousand people have recruited to the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), however, prominent figures like Hovik Abrahamyan with his supporters, Mher Sedrakayn’s name is also being circulated, are leaving the party. What’s going on inside the party?

Any figure is becoming prominent as much as he is a team member. If he isn’t a team member, you won’t use that word. I have stated a few times, that this is a rather natural process. If you are attentive, in his speech on February 12 Armenia’s president clearly outlined the benchmark, to which both a party member and a top official should comply with. If someone considers that his face, features, essence don’t comply with those dimensions and he sees himself somewhere else, our doors are open both for those coming in and out. Frankly speaking I consider it a past, touching upon which is senseless. We’d better speak of the future.

In that case on account of the past, where do political developments inside RPA lead to?

The figure you gave was correct. Formerly there was much criticism that in a night 7000 persons became RPA members. No, they didn’t, throughout these 3 months party was replenished with new people. Naturally, recruitment of a new leader, public person to any political party brings a flow of his/her supporters to that structure, which was recorded by appointment of Karen Karapetyan in PM’s position. Thus, it’s a very natural process.

There is an opinion that although RPA is being self-cleaned, all those odious figures are gathering around Tsarukyan without the knowledge of Serzh Sargsyan. In this case, what’s the difference if the new faces will be observed in the NA with other teams or conditional splitting?

The issue of both the party and the authorities is appearing before the public with other faces, other quality, as every person, every political power, including the authorities, should listen to the public claims, and number one claim addressed to our party and the authorities was that. Naturally, RPA couldn’t but adopt a position that we did throughout this one year. Our purpose is imparting a new face to the authorities, as people say—implementing regime change.

Internal.

Yes, we have done internal regime change, new people have come, new faces, new ideas, with educated, proper past, proper future, and I think, people with much better future. We are doing the same within the party, i.e. we follow public demand. It’s been a long time we undertook those changes to solve challenges that our state faces, as they say—regime change.

But the analysts state the decision-maker is Serzh Sargsyan again.  

They’re not correct. Our position on all that is very clear. If our party has chosen the way of self-cleaning and does the same in public administration, we’d hardly want others to move and gather in on place. Finally, if they gather in one place, quality of the state or political field will particularly change a little. We, of course, think of qualitative change of the authorities and the party. If they gather in one place, the public should think over it.

How justified is the aspiration for a mandate at any price?

When we people and conditions making possible coalitions, I’m not able to explain that process politically or with political terminology. People, contradictory to one another, unite and attempt to give explanations that they have a common issue—regime change. Regime change has already been recorded.

You mean “Tsarukyan” or Ohanyan-Oskanian coalition?

Wherever you look, you realize that they are inconsistent persons. I ask you to be attentive and follow the process, words of people, who until now state they’ll record regime change through joint efforts. You’ll see that grounding will nullify and you’ll see what explanations those people will give if not included in the coalition any more.

Has the RPA final list been clarified?

Not yet, you need to wait one more week.

You said regime change should follow people’s demands, however, people claim for justice, workplaces, trust towards the tomorrow, which lacks, and proof of which is immense number of migration—about 50 thousand, which was the biggest index of recent years.

All the reforms implemented in our country are a means, and the purpose is solution of issues raised by you. This year investments amounting more than USD 800 million are anticipated in our country, the money is available, investors as well, the field, where money should be invested, is available as well, i.e. the business program totally exists. Compared with the previous year this is triple, quadruple times more investment. And it will solve the issue you mentioned. People migrate, when they have no jobs, no salaries and aren’t able to provide a good life for them. If this issue is solved, migration issue is solved as well.

The best means in fight against migration is creation of workplaces. It seems to me, this year we’ll edify the result of reforms. PM’s visit to Russia, meeting with the businessmen, and generally, relations with many other countries, and the change, ongoing in the country, gave hope to many businessmen to invest in Armenia. This is the result of changes, which will be visible this year.

S.Sargsyan once said you’ll hit as much as you want. What’s the grade this time, will RPA comprise a majority in the NA?

Each political power fights for coming to leadership through elections. This is the order in the whole world, there is no political power not striving to that, naturally, our party also wants to appear in the leadership through people’s vote. Election results will show that status. However, the most important is that the authorities themselves undertook such principal change excluding impact of any voting results in the polling station, i.e. the voter is free to implement secret voting and his/her vote will be fairly calculated. Almost everyone shares that opinion, the opposition as well, which stated: yes, we have reached that result.

All issues, which gave a way to doubt, have been solved. Filming in the polling station, accessibility of the participant list…everything is solved. The authorities have defined those rules for themselves, that anyone in case of best intention and efforts, can’t violate it. These elections will be the first in our newly independent country, no matter how much they’ll attempt to discredit, cast a shadow at voting results, the public and majority of political powers will accept the results.

By Gayane Khachatryan