Poll-topping Armenian alliance seeks sound minds in healthy bodies

/The leaders of Armenia's Unity electoral alliance, which is

leading polls for the 30th May parliamentary elections, have

set out their broad programme. Defence Minister Vazgen

Sarkisyan and former Soviet Armenian leader Karen Demirchyan

told voters they will boost education and public healthcare so

ensure a strong army. They will also strip MPs of the immunity

from prosecution and seek to bring charges against the previous

government. The following is the text of a report by Armenian

news agency Snark//

Yerevan, 17th May: The Unity bloc headed by Armenian Defence

Minister Vazgen Sarkisyan (the Republican Party) and former

presidential hopeful Karen Demirchyan (the People's Party), has

no doubt that it will the upcoming parliamentary elections on

30th May - they have no doubt that they will win the majority

of seats in the new parliament. To achieve this the bloc has no

need to falsify the elections, Vazgen Sarkisyan told a meeting

of voters in Aragatsotn Region this weekend. The minister

intends "to tug the ears" of those who might try to rig the

elections.

The bloc's immediate task in the new parliament will be to

deprive MPs of their immunity by a legislative order, Sarkisyan

declared. He said that a year after the elections Unity bloc

MPs will report on the work done and on the implementation of

their promises. Those who do not keep their commitments are to

be recalled, the minister said. "The time has come to move from

words to deeds," Sarkisyan said, assuring electors that the

bloc would be able to implement the programme they had

elaborated.

Setting out the bloc's programme, Karen Demirchyan said it

was based on three spheres - health, education and the army.

Armenia is facing a tough economic period which of course is

telling on the health of people, Demirchyan said. He noted the

need to combine paid and free health services and to open a

state hospital in every region of the republic.

Demirchyan stressed that special attention should be paid

to education. The PPA [People's Party of Armenia] leader thinks

it is necessary to distribute textbooks and stationery free of

charge among first-class children. "School is the foundation of

the army," Demirchyan said, noting that there could be no

efficient army without educated people.

Among other social issues, Demirchyan touched on the

subject of cutting electricity tariffs, which is a topical

subject in Armenia. Referring to expert opinion, the PPA leader

said that the current tariffs are needlessly high and gave

assurances that the issue would without fail appear on the

agenda of the new parliament if the Unity bloc won. The former

leader of Soviet Amenia spoke in favour of the development of

small and medium-sized business that would allow an increase in

the number of jobs.

The Unity bloc leaders called upon the electors to cast

their votes conscientiously. "Karen Demirchyan was building the

state before your eyes, and I have been building the armed

forces for seven or 10 years before your eyes. The more seats

we have in the future parliament, the firmer our voices will

be," Sarkisyan declared. A country that won a war can overcome

a economic crisis and take the path of development, the

minister stressed. He said to do this order must be established

in the country, and those who brought the country to this sorry

plight must be brought to book , and certain laws must be

passed.

Source: Snark news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 0900 gmt 17 May

99

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