No liberation without struggle - Zhirair Sefilyan

The Armenian Preparliament has started its rally in Freedom Square in Yerevan.
 
The organizers state that a process of creating a republic of new quality is under way in Armenia now.

After the current regime has been removed, the issues of forming a new government and involving the people in a national liberation struggle will be discussed.

“Our government, president and prime ministers failed to lay the foundations for a secure country,” a Preparliament member, Vardan Hakobyan, said.

The current policy is focused on the country leader’s interests, which is unacceptable, he said.

The result is regularly rigged elections and people that are not masters of their homeland. “We have colonized Armenia, and our strategic partner Russia has laid its hands on everything,” he said. 

The Preparliament member Garegin Chukaszyan stated that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has once more proved that its political leaders are not ready listen to the people.

“We need a new way. We must realize that the opposition is life, the people. The number of people attending this rally shows that the problem of social tension has not been resolved in Armenia, and political revival is high on the agenda. The political stalemate the Preparliament warned of last year is a reality now. We are struggling against the bankrupt political system. The country is in a pit, and no political forces or individuals can take it out,” he said.

The country needs employment of democratic principles, which means citizens’ immediate involvement and formation of an active opposition network throughout the country.

The present political stalemate creates conditions for extremes and, on the other hand, an atmosphere of despair, which forces more people into emigration.

“We are sure of our people’s wisdom and we deny the claims that the people supported the authorities by voting for them. No doubt, the people have come down to abject poverty, and we must speak of those responsible,” he said. 

Speaking at the rally, Tigran Khzmalyan noted the major problem is emigration. Armenia’s authorities are the only ones responsible.

“Our country has lost 50% of its population in recent 20 years. We have lost half of our cities and villages. The population of a village leaves the country every day,” he said.

When the people succeed in reaching a crucial moment by means of elections, the authorities open fire at their own people, use batons and go on occupying the country by means of money and frauds.

Armenia’s authorities do not take the opposition into account, so they must be shown real opposition. “We must liberate our country. That’s why we have united round Alek Yenigomshyan [an ex-member of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia – ASALA], and Zgirair Sefilyan [former commander of the Shushi battalion]. We are not representing any party nor are we going to become a party because parties split the country. We will create real power rather than a party,” he said.

The people are not resisting because the authorities know the way of dealing with them – keeping the people hungry like it was during the Genocide, Khzmalyan said.

Honored Actress of Armenia Siranush Azaryan spoke at the rally in behalf of all the residents of Gyumri.

The people of Gyumri were able to ensure so the entire Armenian people will be able to.

“Quite a few people attended the Preparliament’s rally in Gyumri on May 9. A hope sprang up. But how many times can we let a hope spring up and fade? This is typical of our people,” she said.

“We give our children the best. But they are now living in a country without future,” Azaryan said.

If all people join the struggle, they are sure to win victory.

Alek Yenigomshyan welcomed the end of elections in Armenia, which inaugurated a real struggle.

He presented the plans for the foreseeable future, namely, creating a parallel government system and a state of new quality.

"We must think so to overcome this reality. We thus winned all of our victories throughout our history,” he said.

He noted that the forces that has now come onto the political scene is not a party. “We have no right to change power and leave everything, which was the case in 1988. That cruel system was replaced by a similar cruel system” he said.

There must not be reports to the people once in five years, but there must be daily reports. 

The Preparliament member, ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan said that the initiative members do not have any ambitions or “civilization complex.”

“These people are very busy. But they realize the disastrous situation in the country. Who knows about the tasks of our authorities at different levels? When you elected the Yerevan mayor, did you know about his plans for this or next year? You do not know. But elections are not programs of pledges,” she said.

She hopes the people will join the Preparliament’s struggle for Armenia. 

The environmentalist Yeghya Nersisyan quoted Garegin Nzhdeh, saying, “It is more difficult to live a hero than to die.”

“I was in Byurakan, where Armenia’s Prosecutor General is building one more death-dealing hydro-power plant. The villagers are ready to die but they will not have the hydro power plant work,” he said.

“Condemned are the authorities of a country where freedom fighters stage sit-down protests,” he said.

“We are ready to die for life, but they will live and dream of dying,” Nersisyan said.

The Preparliament member Zgirair Sefilyan noted that the ruling regime has for years retained power.

However, it is not because they are strong, but because the opposition forces, to put it mildly, committed mistakes.

”Our country is occupied. The ruling administration has declared an open war on the people. So the homeland will not be liberated without struggle,” he said.

Twenty-five years ago the Armenian people succeeded to unite and liberate Nagorno-Karabakh. The same must be done for establishing an independent state.

He stressed the need to realize that any movement, especially an opposition movement, cannot achieve results without support. Although the Preparliament has a well-thought-out program , it will remain on paper unless life is breathed into it.

He also stressed the need for organization in the Armenian Diaspora.

The Preparliament will hold its next rally on July 12, with semimonthly meetings and discussions to precede it in Freedom Square.

“We realize our program is a complex one. It must be so because we want to create a state, but we have a perception problem. We want to listen to our people,” he said.

Sefilyan called on “honest” freedom fighters, who have endured for 25 years, to join the Preparliament. He also called on young people not to leave Armenia and on the Armenian Diaspora to join the struggle.