December 18, 2007

Heritage Follows Through on Its Promise

Yerevan—During a special session held on December 6, the Heritage Party Council decided not to nominate a candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for February 19, 2008. Having failed to reach consensus on endorsing another candidate, the delegates of the Council decided to empower the party board to make the final decision about the party’s participation in the elections. To that end, the Council instructed the board “to obtain from all nominees their vision for Armenia and their proposed policies, programs, and governance mechanisms, as well as their individual and collective qualifications, and then to inform the Armenian public of its findings and conclusions.”

Following that instruction, the party board today held a special meeting and officially forwarded a set of inquiries, comprising twenty-two questions, to all presidential candidates in anticipation of their truthful replies. The answers to these questions are of vital concern not only to the party and its supporters, but also to a large cross-section of the body politic. Heritage leader Raffi K. Hovannisian explained: “This is neither an experiment nor a sudden impulse. Our objective is to inform the voters about the political positions, leadership qualities, and personal characteristics of the future president of Armenia, and, in doing so, to determine Heritage’s course of action.”

Questionnaire for Public Information

1. Why do you want to become president and, if elected, which will be your first five steps?
2. What, in your opinion, are the greatest external and domestic challenges facing Armenia and Armenian citizens?
3. What do you consider to be the just solution to the Artsakh dilemma, and what are the avenues through which it might be resolved?
4. What are the priorities of Armenia’s economic growth?
5. Do you intend to eliminate political, economic, and social inequality in the country, to separate the state from any and all political parties, and to eradicate the endemic conflicts of interest between government and business? If yes, what steps will you take to these ends?
6. Do you plan on exposing and prosecuting the wealthiest of tax evaders and state officials who have embezzled or carried out political persecutions? If yes, what will be your priorities?
7. What is your stand on the “Property for Debt” arrangement within the framework of interstate relations and on similarly controversial agreements that have been reached in the telecommunication, energy, and other domains of strategic importance?
8. What is your strategy for and approach toward using the potential of the Armenian Diaspora?
9. Which should be the individual and professional attributes of our nation’s president? Do you possess these attributes?
10. Do you believe that your personal example and political activity have assisted in the establishment of a free, independent, and democratic social system that is anchored in the rule of law and the rights of the citizen? If yes, please explain.
11. Does your track record include potentially unlawful activities, corruption for example, which would enable others to influence your judgment? If yes, please specify.
12. During your prior official tenure, if applicable, has an innocent person ever been imprisoned, even if by a court verdict, with your involvement or knowledge, or have you been informed of such imprisonment in advance? If yes, please provide details.
13. During your prior official tenure, if applicable, have you made substantive mistakes and errors? If yes, what were they and how do you intend to rectify them?
14. Have you run in other elections and, if so, did you at any time possess any factual information on election fraud or bribery committed in your favor? If yes, please specify.
15. What is the difference between your and your family’s assets—monetary, material and technical property, stocks and equities, real estate, other personal possessions, and business interests registered either under your or someone else’s name—as of 1991 and at present, and how do you explain that difference?
16. Who are your nominees for Armenia’s prime minister, prosecutor general, chief of police, chief of national security service, and ministers of defense and foreign affairs? 
17. Whom would you like to see occupying the nation’s key official posts, ministerial or otherwise?
18. Are you prepared to work together with the current National Assembly, or do you believe that it needs to be dissolved?
19. Which one of the other eight presidential candidates do you trust the most, and whose political vision do you share the most?
20. Is there a chance that you might withdraw your candidacy before election day? If yes, which other presidential contender will you then support?
21. Which are your principal virtues and shortcomings?
22. Do you believe that Armenian citizens have the guaranteed right to ask these questions of you and to receive answers?