Text of report by Armenian news agency Noyan Tapan
Yerevan, 12th May: "The previous radical liberalism, and its
more civilized forms which are being applied, will not bring
the country out of the existing harsh situation," Armenian
Presidential Foreign Policy Adviser Aram Sarkisyan, chairman of
the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA), told a press conference
on 12th May.
In his opinion, the lack of a social democratic wing in
the current parliament has weakened interparliamentary links.
Thus the interest of a number of social democratic parties in
Armenia has obviously become weaker, whereas these parties
exert great influence over the parliaments of Eastern European.
Socialists and social democrats make up the majority in the
European Parliament.
Sarkisyan says that none of the political forces will have
a qualified majority in the future National Assembly, which
will be a reason for setting up a "coalition government". He
said that in the future parliament, the DPA would cooperate
with pro-socialist forces - the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutyun and others. Sarkisyan also expressed
astonishment that the programme of the Unity bloc has, in his
view, much in common with the DPA programme although the bloc
"calls itself right-wing centrist".
The DPA chairman pointed out that social and economic
issues were taking centre stage in the party's election
programme. In particular, he underscored the need for the
government to set up a special fund which would also include
confiscated resources.
Sarkisyan expressed confidence that the DPA would cross
the five-per-cent hurdle in the elections under the
proportional system. He said that at present, over 50 DPA
centres were operating in all the regions of Armenia. He gauged
the course of the election campaign as positive.
Special attention was paid to the issue of energy tariffs
at the press conference. Aram Sarkisyan said that the DPA was
opposed to reducing tariffs, but in favour of raising the
living standards of the population.
Source: Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 1240 gmt
12 May 99
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