EcoLur
Presidential Candidate Arman Meliqyan refused to run an election campaign. “We consider it incorrect to speak about our program without being sure that the elections won’t be faked. Our former experience shows that 400-500 thousand votes belong to people, who left the country. None of the candidates made a sensible proposal in this regard. That is, the candidates present their program, but they have no guarantee that the elections on 18 February will be legal and fair. Neither Paruyr Hayrikyan, nor Raffi Hovhannisian, nor Hrant Bagratyan speaks about falsifications and proposes any recipes. Andreas Ghukasyan and Aram Harutyunyan are willing to withdraw their candidatures and to hold a hunger strike…If the authorities agree to publish the official figures of those people, who are in Armenia at present, we will proceed to the second stage of the elections. But we consider it senseless to run an election campaign without fulfilling this condition.”
- If you are elected, what will you change, first of all?
- I will change the corruption system of the authorities. This system will lead the country to the expected end. Meanwhile the first condition is the head of the country to refrain from being a participant in corruption processes. The rest is to be vested on professionals. We also need to work with the society, as, unfortunately, 95% of our society, to this or that extent, is involved in the corruption process, either as a briber or a bribe taker.
- How do you assess the environmental situation and the environmental policy run?
- Our environmental resources and environment is exposed to serious pressure. Soil management, toxic production, emissions are practically not controlled. There is no adequate ecological expertise. All this is unacceptable. But the solution to problems can be obtained only as a result of system changes. That is, the efforts of the state, society and residents should be united. Technical conditions for the rational use of natural resources and appropriate control should be set up. But this is only one side of the problem. The other side is the attitude of the society, in general, towards environmental culture and moral climate.
- What kind of priority ecological problem should be solved first?
- Lake Sevan. The stocktaking of natural resources should be carried out to assess the situation in general. There are individual achievements, but as a whole, there are problems and failures, for which the authorities should be blamed for. What about civic activity, I can say that Armenia has recorded a serious advance in this regard.
- Who would you like to see in the post of Nature Protection Minister?
- This person should be a professional, a representative from public sector supported by the society.
January 29, 2013 at 16:34