Excerpts of a Mediamax interview with former RA President Robert Kocharyan.

Last month President Sargsyan urged law enforcement to reactivate their work regarding the investigation of the events of March 1, 20008. Some opposition politicians, analysts and reporters, implied that the arrows of this directive were pointed at you. The implication being that a renewed investigation would neutralize the “Kocharyan factor” and deny you any possibility of engaging in politics down the road. What is your response?

Yes, and there were many thoughts expressed as to in whose interests were the tragic events of March 1, 2008. The answer is quite clear. It was beneficial to those who are today exploiting those events, but definitely not the authorities, either past or present.

Everyone knows what happened back then. The events unfolded before the eyes of the entire country. A defeated candidate declared that he had been elected president and was preparing to seize the presidential palace.  The situation was intensified drastically when the opposition started to take illegal measures.

I remember distinctly that the state of emergency was enacted only after scores of cars had been burnt or looted, when the mobs were destroying everything in sight and when the first reports of people being killed or wounded came in. The nation’s constitutional order was under threat and the situation was ungovernable.

The state of emergency was enacted according to the RA Constitution and by existing procedural norms. In hindsight, I believe that this measure should have been enacted earlier. Perhaps, we might have avoided having victims.

The president isn’t personally in charge of the steps being taken on the streets to restore law and order and doesn’t regulate the use of special forces. It’s the appropriate agencies that are tasked with the job. That’s the way it is the world over.

I can categorically state that no one gave the order to use military weapons to shoot at the people. At least I have no proof to the contrary. Except for the death of the captain of the internal forces, all the over deaths occurred over a wide expanse from the rally, in the very area were the stores were being looted and cars set ablaze.

In actuality, this area was a no man’s land, neither under the control of the police or the opposition leaders.

Mr. Kocharyan, despite the fact that you remain politically inactive, your name is always showing up in various analyses and forecasts for the future. Is the “Kocharyan factor” alive and if so why?

Probably it’s because my tenure as president is regarded as a period of positive changes in the lives of the people. Some political figures have lost sleep over this fact. Thus, certain people are trying to downplay the achievements of those years or to ascribe them to factors beyond our control. It is apparent that the living standard of people has significantly dropped over the past few years and people are inclined to make comparisons. And they more average folk make comparisons, the more energetic the efforts of the ‘sold-out’ opposition to demean me. Sadly, this is the logic of internal processes today and which is only very slightly dependent on my degree of activity.

How to you evaluate the signs of dialogue between the government and opposition? How to you see the future political course developing?

I see the dialog as positive if it leads to the laying of civilized rules regarding political competition and the ruling out of radical measure. Stability is a necessary precondition for economic growth and this is what Armenia primarily needs today.

It will also assist in the holding of free and fair elections,

As to what is actually taking place between the government and the opposition, I cannot say. I thank God that I am not a part of the process. I have just painted some possible versions and consequences. Both versions are possible. Only time will tell.