YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)– "The ARF has never been submissive and subordinate to the authorities–a party betraying its ideals–neither is it ever going to become such a party," Rouben Hakobian–political representative of the ARF Executive Council of Armenia–said at a news conference Wednesday in response to the statement by David Vardanian–a member of the National Democratic Union administration–that "ARF had allegedly arranged a deal with the authorities in a bid to find some place under the sun."
Hakobian said there were some facts during the recent seven years showing that the dialogue with the authorities had transformed into an attempt "to pick the authorities’ pocket," however those who had such intentions or experiences should not be considered in the same light as the ARF.
He advised political figures to be more concrete in their estimations and not to burn bridges of cooperation. At the same time Hakobian added that there would be new political blocs in the future involving parties which at least admit the physical existence of one another.
Speaking about the statement by Vardanian who suggested that the party’s ordinary members did not share the standpoints of their leadership and that the shift of the ARF leadership was likely to take place in the near future–Hakobian said that attempts to split the ARF is not news for him. The foundation of that was laid by Levon Ter-Petrosyan who banned the party’s activities–saying that the ARF ran’s were straight–while the leaders were dishonest. There were attempts during that period to pit the ARF Executive Council against the Bureau. According to Hakobian–the ARF is a national value with integrity and unity. At the same time he mentioned that the ARF was first of all strong due to its structure in Armenia. "While those who will not see this structure–wishing to bypass it should understand once and for all that they will not be able to achieve any progress in their undertakings no matter whether their programs are aimed at strengthening or breaking the ARF," he concluded.