khosq.com

Q.
Mr. Kocharian, most of his last speech at a rally on July 4 Levon
Ter-Petrosyan devoted to your criticism. What do you think, why was it?

A. It's the loser's complex speaking in him. After all,
he has lost twice and he is not manly enough to lose with dignity.
Besides, it's always convenient to direct his radicalism against a
former president. In 1998 I did not do so, because I think such
behavior is unworthy. This is a behavior of a small and angry man.
Sometimes I feel sorry for him.

Q.
It is obvious that the first President of Armenia showed an extremely
hostile attitude towards you and transparent hints at the possibility
of cooperating with the authorities under certain conditions. Do you
think these are tactical moves, or a deliberate strategy?

A.
I am sure, Levon Ter-Petrosyan is aware that he has irrevocably lost
the elections. He thinks he lost to me but it is not so. As the then
acting president, I only fulfilled my duty by protecting and restoring
constitutional order in the country.

Ter-Petrosyan simply can
not withdraw from the area of radical opposition. He will not be
allowed by his owners and creditors. And radicalism should be targeted
at something. So he is making an effort. Perhaps, it also seem to him
that the authorities will like these actions and that way he will earn
a forgiveness for the March 1 crime, and at the same time have the
opportunity to freely cockscomb at rallies. It is a possible tactical
calculation.

In terms of strategy I do not rule out that he
continues to see me as his main political rival in future political
battles. I think he once again is wrong - both in tactics and strategy.

Q.
The address by Ter-Petrossian was full of flaws during your presidency.
The point was that you destroyed everything that was possible to
destroy. What do you say about that?

A. In the speech
there is so much delirium that it does not make sense to provide an
explanation for each item.Very soon a book with a set of factual
material about the period of my presidency will be published. This will
be pure statistics, without emotion. That will answer all the questions
about the effectiveness of my work. Any country and any president can
be proud of such pace of development . It would be amusing to publish
the same book, based on evidence, about the period of Ter-Petrossian
presidency. Let people compare. After all, he and HHSh did not leave a
bright memory among people, did not build anything that could show
today. They are the types who remain in history as effective
destroyers. Sometimes Ter-Petrosian loses sense of proportion so that
you begin to doubt his sanity. Perhaps his psyche simply does not stand
up to stress.

Q.
Perhaps there is a need from time to time to remind people that has
been done and when? After all, those who are now 18-20 years old may
simply not remember all this.

A. This is a question of
responsibility and decency in politicians. By the way, not only the
opposition. The temptation to lie to the youth may be among the
authorities and the opposition.

I am curious about
Ter-Petrossian's vision. When he takes part in rallies, where he is
looking? After all, he does not see any new buildings erected during
his reign. These simply do not exist in nature. Even if he only looks
under his feet, he cannot not see that he is walking on good asphalt
and well-lit streets. That there are more and more cars, and basically
they are good foreign models. If he bothers to look up, then he will
see the beautiful shop windows, cafes, restaurants and many more
interesting things. If he makes an effort, he will remember that during
his time none of that was there. The asphalt was broken, the streets
were dark. I simply do not want to recall the shops, cafes and
restaurants not to spoil the mood of our citizens.

Curiously,
when members of his family and close ones walk on Northern Avenue, do
they tell him about it? It's interesting also: does he go to Gyumri
rally blindfolded or what? Amnesia and "poor vision" for a politician -
this is almost a diagnosis.

Q. The press supporting Ter-Petrossian has consistently pursued the idea that you continue to rule the country.

A.
This is complete nonsense. If this were the case, Ter-Petrosyan would
have likely been put behind bars for criminality (by the way, I would
have corrected my mistake of 1998). And certainly, President of Turkey
would not have been invited to a soccer game in Yerevan.

The
purpose of such publications is to create additional problems for the
authorities . The countries must be managed by those who are
responsible for it as written in the Constitution. The power and
responsibility are inseparable and can not be in the shadow. This is my
deep conviction.