Following the revolution in Armenia many political and public activists as well as human rights organizations have talked about the need to have an official political assessment regarding the past. A number of NGO’s, including Transparency International Anticorruption Center were demanding an official characterization to – in their view – the capture of the state. However, these calls were left unanswered.

Sona Ayvazyan, Executive Director of Transparency International Anticorruption Center, thinks an official political assessment should be given by the parliament. “I believe the adoption of such a statement by the elected National Assembly would be enough to recognize the fact of state capture, which will then become the grounds for further changes,” Ayvazyan said to the Armenian broadcasting service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

According to the Executive Director of TI Armenia, changing the context of the issue put to referendum half-way through the campaign is unacceptable. “If this was done well in advance, was preplanned and this entire statement was put to a referendum, then perhaps it would have been reasonable but now we have come to a point where to just take this issue and attach it to the one put to a referendum, I don’t think that is right,” Ayvazyan highlighted.

Original source: Armenian broadcasting service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty