An interview with Saribek Sukiasyan, candidate of NA member nominated from election area Nr. 10
There appeared hints in the mass media that you had declared your whish of not becoming a deputy/, but however, now you submitted an application of being present in the parliament. What factors influenced your decision?
As you know since 2007, on the threshold of the presidential elections my brother Khachatur and our whole family turned to be in the circulation of political pursuits. Dozens of employees working in our companies were arrested; I was also taken to pretrial custody for some instants. Two big companies were taken from us in direct sense of the word and our economic structures incurred heavy losses. All this had its great negative impact on us, and the peace of our family was broken.
But it was considered too small. Now violating elementary norms of law, Kh. Sukiasyan was not registered as candidate, depriving him from his constitutionally reserved right of being elected. The reason is very clear to us; the confidence of the wide layers of public towards Khachatur troubled some representatives of the authorities. My brother has guessed the disposition of the authorities and admonished me to be nominated in the Election constituency No 10 so that I can carry out his projects in the parliament and provide preliminary competition in our area and come up to the expectations of the voters. It is also the issue of our dignity.
I have always been aware of Khachatur’s activities in National Assembly; I studied periodically his legislative initiatives. I just want to say that I have always followed the work of the parliament; I know the factors hindering the development of the economy that can be decreased or eliminated by improving the legislation. Hence, I shall not be an occasional man in the National Assembly and in case of being elected I shall work very efficiently.
Your main competitor in the election area is Garegin Nushikyan who is in affinity relations with the RA prospector general. Doesn’t it trouble you?
– No, it doesn’t. The elections cannot be the reflection of affinity or friendly relations. Each high ranking official, even if he is the highest representative of law and enforcement bodies has only one vote during the elections like other citizens. I hope the authorities will keep their promise to provide free and fair elections this time. I consider it inadmissible to use force and prosecutor’s levers on influencing the results of elections.
And how do you evaluate your chances of winning in the elections.
Rich expertise of doing business, managing different economic and financial structures has taught me to calculate my chances, abilities and analyze the situation before starting any new initiatives.
In this case all the mentioned actions have been carried out and I start the electoral campaign calm and resolutely.
My contacts with the inhabitants of the electoral constituency, their trust and confidence towards me, the well-trained team supporting me allow me to conclude that I will win. In the long run I am not a person unfamiliar to public, I have expressed my views about the political and economic problems of the country over the mass media, and I pointed out the issues hindering the development of the economy, and I have suggested variants for settling down the problems.
You are in the first dozen in ANC proportional lists, though you were not actively engaged in politics up to now. How do you explain this?
First of all, I think this question should be addressed to the leaders of Congress. I have told a lot of times that I appraise highly the investment of the first president of Armenia in getting the independence of our country and liberation of Artsakh. My liberal ideas coincide with the programs of ANC and models suggested for the country’s development and I have never concealed that I am an ANC sympathizer. You also know that my brother has distinctly expressed his political position in 2008 and stood beside the people. For that reason it cannot be considered contingent that I was included in pre-election list of Congress. Let me also mention that the wings of the authorities should be balanced. Thus, political and economic figures with independent and opposing views are strictly needed in the parliament. It is driven by the interests of both the country and its citizens.