February 22, 2008

Liberty Square: Raffi Hovannisian Addresses the Nation

Friends and Fellow Citizens:

This historic arena for the exercise of our national liberty will, no doubt, ultimately host the realization of our individual and collective rights. And it shall do so not only by attaining the crest of this soaring spirit of our national unity, but also through the adoption of precise and objective assessments and measured vocabulary. Which man, whether standing on this platform, or among the people, or even among those who are not here, has not committed mistakes in his lifetime? But no one person can become the proprietor of the vote which is the fruit of the Armenian people’s God-given freedom to choose. 

Several days ago, we marked the 20th anniversary of the formal launching of Artsakh’s quest for liberty. A few days on, we will honor for the twentieth time the memory of the victims of the ensuing pogroms in Sumgait. It was our national unity, radiating from these very steps to Stepanakert and every faraway frontier, which led us to victory. Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan was present. We can never forget the contributions of Vazgen Sargsyan, the Sparapet or Supreme Commander, our valiant commanders, generals, and all of our ministers of defense. Thousands of brave Armenian men and women—the yerkrabah volunteers, members of the Armenian National Movement, the Republican Party, the Dashnaktsutiun, Communists, as well as those with no party affiliation—sacrificed their lives to liberate Artsakh from its darkest day. Persons combined into people, and today’s triumph will undoubtedly be forged again if the people comes together and forms one will and one fist.

Let us now pause for a minute of silence and solidarity to salute the memory of our fallen heroes—the commanders-in-chief, the officers, and the countless rank-and-file Armenians—who delivered our unified heritage to their descendants and who, in the name of homeland, faith, and freedom, put their lives on the altar of service and self-sacrifice. 

This commemoration also belongs to the current prime minister, who likewise has played a worthy part in Artsakh’s liberation movement. Now, however, he finds himself before the most crucial watershed of his life. He has spoken about righteousness and publicly sought forgiveness for the wrongs committed over the past seventeen years. This is a fine quality indeed, but there is no need to announce that only the strong are capable of repenting. The strength of asking forgiveness does not lie in mere pre-election promise but in post-election action. It speaks to a person’s example and ethics and his honest readiness to conduct his own atonement, which is truly a high human value. Serzh Sargsyan knows better than anyone that thousands of Armenians are deprived of their rights in their own country and that citizens and public figures are continually pursued and persecuted because of their convictions. He knows that the vote has been forged. He knows also that the inalienable rights of free expression and free elections have been confiscated from the people.

He must ask himself these questions: Is this the victory that he saw for himself and deserves? Are these the elections by which the legitimate president of a legitimate republic will come to office? And is it possible to receive the people’s vote of confidence by means of ballot-stuffing, violence, fraud, and other documented violations of the law? He must overcome the briefings of his advisers, agents, and other whisperers. He must rise above the mind-numbing sycophancy that surrounds him and finally return to the source of his noble deeds in the name of Armenia and Artsakh. This, perhaps, is his gravest test.

As for us, dear compatriots, we are all victors here today. The national struggle for the achievement of civic will, political commitment, and the realization of rights has come to fruition in Armenia. You have proved that you really are the masters of our vote, our triumph, and our country.  

We are joined together by the imperative for giving a brand new meaning to the legacy of our past, including both its accomplishments and its shortfalls, and by the abiding need firmly to place our nation’s future upon the true path of progress. And Levon Ter-Petrosyan has become the principal spokesman for that great return toward the future.  

I assure you that, as always, the Heritage Party—from its humble beginnings until the day we strike justice and even after the formation of a new government—will not aspire to this platform and will instead stand amongst the people, right from the first row all the way out to the last. Together we will form that collective conscience, equilibrium, and backbone which will never again allow the shameful stealing of elections or the violation of Armenian rights at home or abroad. We will see to it that from now on nobody, either from within the country or from outside, will dare to accost or cast into doubt the sovereignty of the Armenian state, our national interests, and the liberty and dignity of each and every citizen.

Because above and beyond the individual names, slogans, political parties, and titles that are echoed on this square, there reigns a universal love, a God-given creed, a mission of heritage, and a majestic value—Our Homeland—which belongs to all of us and whose name today, and for all eternity, is Hayastan. 

Hayastan! Hayastan! Hayastan!

Raffi K. Hovannisian
February 22, 2008
Yerevan