Vardanyan: ‘The ARF-D Has Been the Only One to Instill Systemic Changes in the Country’
(ARMENIAN WEEKLY) ARARAT PROVINCE, Armenia— On March 23, Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) candidates held a campaign rally in the Ararat province, ahead of the April 2 Parliamentary elections.
“Very limited powers will be vested in the president [in 2018]. All other issues of the country such as domestic, foreign, social, and economic will be dealt with by the National Assembly,” said ARF-D Supreme Council Representative Aghvan Vardanyan.
Vardanyan explained that citizens must carefully study and understand the nine political parties/blocs actively campaigning, in order to see what each offers the people of Armenia.
“In this regard, the ARF-D is significantly different than the other political parties,” said Vardanyan. “For the last 127 years, the ARF-D has been with the people of our country, because it is a political party that was founded based off the reflection of its people.”
Vardanyan criticized some of the other political parties and blocs participating in the upcoming election, and accused them of not having collective leaderships, ideologies, or principles.
“Other [political powers] have come and said that they will make a difference, but the ARF-D has been the only one to instill systemic changes in the country,” said Vardanyan. “Look at the other forces. Six months ago they were the ones in power and today they have become the opposition and accuse the government of wrongdoing… By April 3, those who have lied to the faces of our people need to be held accountable,” said Vardanyan.
Vardanyan then asked those in attendance whether they wanted a real political party like the ARF-D or ones that formed alliances just three months prior to election.
“Would you like to be lied to or would you like a strong political force in the National Assembly who is willing to protect your rights?” asked Vardanyan. “We need a Parliament in which there are true political forces,” Vardanyan concluded.