Nelly Grigoryan

“We are participating in this race with sufficient determination but with moderate expectations,” says Khosrov Harutiunyan, chairman of the Christian-Democratic Union of Armenia (CDUA). Their proportional list contains 33 names. The first three are Khosrov Harutiunyan, Anaida Martirosyan (the Kentron TV station’s director of social and political programs) and Ruben Safrastyan (head of the Turkish Department at the Institute for Oriental Studies of theAcademyofSciences). 40 % of the list are women, and the majority are scientists and scholars with various academic degrees. According to these indices, the party surpasses all other political forces in the race.

CDUA expects to overcome the required 5% barrier on May 25th, which according to the party leader will be a very positive result and the basis for future activity. CDUA rejects election blocs, since “experience shows that pre-election marriages end in hasty post-election divorces.” Khosrov Harutiunyan believes that such political arrangements have without exception had a negative impact on the quality of the parliament in the past, and he adds, “Each political structure should publicly assume its responsibility during the elections. Vague, indefinitely targeted responsibility doesn’t do anything positive.”

As regards so-called practical steps, the Christian-Democrats believe that the starting point is the consumer. That is, “The economy is the means to ensure prosperity for society”. Thus, “Economic policy should serve the individual and not vice versa.” The task of the state, as CDUA sees it, is not direct interference but “ensuring price formation based on free competition and supply and demand.”

“We are condemned to make our state competitive,” Khosrov Harutiunyan assures voters in the marzes, and explains that this can be achieved “because of our intellectual potential.” But because emigration impairs this relative advantage over our neighbors, “The scope of emigration is threatening the prospect of making the state competitive,” he concludes, and offers a well-known truism: “Political stability and improvement of the socio-economic situation.”

The party has a distinctive attitude toward the latter - the formation of solvent demand for continuous production growth. “When the consumer takes care of his daily concerns he or she, in essence, creates demand, which is necessarily increased by new demand,” and thus, the economy begins working to satisfy consumer demand. The CDUA leader is convinced that this dynamic will create new jobs for the unemployed who will in turn become consumers and create new demand. In essence, through consumption, demand constantly grows and supply responds.

The state’s role here is “to be concerned about the solvency of the consumer,” not to create jobs. The first step, in Harutiunyan’s opinion, must be to make consumers of teachers and pensioners by bringing their salaries and pensions closer to the monthly consumer basket. (AMD 30,000-35,000 - about $50-60). As additional steps, he mentions the development of agriculture, capital flow fromYerevanto the marzes, and the improvement of the health care system. “We should not try to form the middle class, but we should create conditions for its formation.”

The question “What did Khosrov Harutiunyan do while he was prime minister?” -- which is raised at all his meetings -- has one answer: “In 1992 we had the problem of bread, and it wasn’t a social matter, but whether or not the state would exist.” In the area of foreign policy the CDUA slogan is, “There will be pressure onArmeniaregarding the Nagorno Karabakh problem,” and the party leader calls upon voters to choose a parliament that will be able to defend the achievements of independence.