ARF 120 Anniversary at Yerevan Opera Theatre

The ARF's 120th Anniversary was celebrated in Armenia on Sunday, December 12, at the famous Yerevan Opera Theatre. A capacity audience of citizens, activists and dignitaries were all on hand to honor the ARF's history and hear its message.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Armen Rustamyan, Chairman of the ARF Supreme Council in Armenia. Here is an excerpt from Rustamyan's remarks which dealt forthrightly with the drastic need for change in Armenia:

"The slogan 'Development Without Conceding' is directly in line with the 1990 Declaration of Independence and the future of our Republic is dependent upon realizing this goal in full. With this in mind, it is extremely important that we compare and evaluate the three presidents who have so far served in office in Armenia.

During the years of the first president, the willingness to surrender to foreign powers was clearly evident. Yet not only did the country not develop with such a posture, it did just the opposite—it went backwards.

Under the second president, a new commitment and will opposed to concessions came to the fore and the country began to develop. However, the rate of this recovery remained unsatisfactory.

Now, the third president has returned to a policy which justifies moving toward concessions in order to develop. However, rather than development, we see the nation caught in a state of limbo.

This comparison shows us that the disregard or underestimation of this concept of 'Development Without Conceding' inevitably leads us to the current societal crisis. The signs of this crisis are all around us and clearly evident within the national, socio-economic, and democratic realms of the country.

To point them out more specifically, we see today in Armenia the solidification of a plutocratic government of the wealthy instead of democracy, where there is rampant patronage and corruption at every turn; instead of free economic competition, we see a system of monopolies; instead of promoting investment we see the transfer of capital abroad; instead of a social state we see public alienation and poverty; and instead of repatriation we see emigration.

This past 20 years of experience proves that the establishment of a fundamentally new regime capable of fully bringing to life the concept of "Development Without Conceding" is a historical necessity for Armenia.

A change of regime along these lines must possess a corresponding mission so that the removal of the acting regime does not simply become the replacement of individuals.

Such an all-encompassing regime change must have two fundamental missions: (1) establishing a clear national vision free of concessions and (2) securing the nation's rapid development."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ARF 120
• Yerevan Opera

[hokis88]

Could you give me the title of this song ?