We Will Try to Come to Power: Arthur Vanetsyan in 'Hraparak'

Arthur Vanetsyan, the former director of the National Security Service and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Homeland Development Foundation, gave an extensive interview to the journalists of 'Hraparak' newspaper.

Mr. Vanetsyan, when will your party's congress take place, who is in the leadership of the party, and what plans does the party have for the near future? Are there plans for a change of power, or is it still in the formative stage, including ideologically?

Due to the restrictions related to the pandemic, our plans have been somewhat disrupted; we could not hold the congress and already establish our role as a party in the Armenian political field. However, considering the prevailing situation and the restrictions, which I believe will last for a while, we are currently discussing options for holding the congress in different formats than usual. We will announce the format of our congress in the next 10-15 days and shape our political structure.

As for our political team, at this moment, we have over 1,700 applications for party membership. The program, value-based, and ideological principles will be determined during the congress. I do not want to highlight any individuals at this stage, but I can confidently say that people with high human and professional qualities will be included in our team; it will be a professional team of good people.

What field will you operate in?

Our political force will operate in the opposition sector and will be a clear opposition to the current authorities, trying to come to power by presenting our programs and freeing ourselves from this government.

Mr. Vanetsyan, how do you plan to come to power? Will you wait for the next elections, or will you use other means to reach early elections? What will be the ideology of your party? Do you have a slogan?

Our party's ideology will be centrism with a right orientation, as I place great importance on preserving traditional values and traditions, but that does not mean we will be a conservative party; we will be a centrist party. The most important idea and ideology will be the interest of the state, its valuing and glorification. Along with this, I emphasize preserving our identity and national traditions. In other words, all the values that ordinary Armenian families and people have maintained throughout their lives. A specific slogan has not yet been developed, but the ideas around which we unite can be characterized in two words: 'Progress and Traditions.' This means that we must always develop and move forward with the world, but we are obliged to preserve our identity and national traditions.

Regarding whether changes will occur as a result of the regular or early elections, or in another situation, I can say one thing: I am only in favor of a constitutional change of power; any violation of constitutional order that does not conform to our laws is unacceptable to me. The most logical changes under constitutional order are regular parliamentary elections, early parliamentary elections, and the third option is that political forces in the current National Assembly initiate the change of the Prime Minister and the government and elect a new Prime Minister.