Armenian ex-communist leader highlights economy as main issue

The leaders of the Unity bloc, Defence Minister Vazgen
Sarkisyan and the leader of the People's Party of Armenia,
Karen Demirchyan, have pledged to cooperate with President
Robert Kocharyan after the parliamentary elections on 30th May.
Speaking at a joint election rally in Yerevan, Demirchyan
stressed that the main task facing the country was the economy
and that all others were "minor". The following is text of
report by Armenian news agency Noyan Tapan on 17th May//
 
Yerevan, 17th May: Even if the People's Party of Armenia [PPA]
and the Republican Party of Armenia had not united, they would
be in the majority in parliament and maybe even bigger,
Armenian Defence Minister Vazgen Sarkisyan affirms. Together
with the leader of the Unity bloc, Karen Demirchyan, he had a
meeting with the capital's youth on 14th May. The minister said
that the bloc could have been formed within parliament, but for
the sake of fair and free elections the parties had united in
the runup to the elections.
 
The bloc is not temporary but has far-reaching aims, the PPA chairman, Karen Demirchyan, said.
Asked why he had changed his attitude to Karen Demirchyan
after the presidential elections in 1998, Sarkisyan said: "I
was not against Karen Demirchyan. We were political opponents
but not enemies". About Demirchyan he said: "It would be too
wasteful, to put it bluntly, not to use the experience, wisdom
and mutual love of the people to extricate the country from a
difficult situation. I said this in 1995, in 1998 and I think
so today. I interfered last time but want to help now."
Asked "whether he did not regret supporting Robert
Kocharyan in the presidential elections", Sarkisyan replied:
"This was a political task and we resolved this political task.
I think that the president carries out his commitments
commendably". Both politicians assured that they would
cooperate with the country's president following the elections.
 
The Unity bloc leaders did not rule out cooperation with
the Armenian Pan-National Movement either. "We are ready to
cooperate with those whose ideas are close to ours," Sarkisyan
noted. Avoiding inappropriate comments in the press, he refused
to answer questions about [ex-interior minister accused of
contract murder] Vano Siradegyan and noted that he did not
consider the trial against him as political persecution.
"Foreign policy should be moderate," Sarkisyan believes.
Demirchyan noted that foreign policy should be "balanced and
oriented towards increasing the number of our friends and
pursued in a way that upholds the country's dignity".
In the opinion of the bloc's leaders, the resignation of
Russian Prime Minister Yevgeniy Primakov would not in any way
affect Armenia, including the parliamentary elections. However,
the possible impeachment of Russian President Boris Yeltsin
could have a tangible influence: "I cannot say whether it would
be in a negative or positive way, but this is a factor that
could exert an influence," the defence minister said.
Despite Sarkisyan's statement that the Unity bloc "has the
chance" to get a majority in parliament and that issues raised
by the youth will be debated by the National Assembly and the
government in the form of a programme, programmatic issues were
barely raised.
 
Students were mainly interested in questions
concerning education fees, high education costs and questions
concerning military service. Demirchyan said that the main
questions with a bearing on young people were education and
employment after graduation.
 
Both bloc leaders believe that the training of economic
specialists must be free of charge. "The main task in our
programme is to restore our country's economy, all others are
minor ones," Demirchyan said.
Source: Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 1440 gmt
17 May 99
BBC Mon TCU 190599 cal/nm