Are your proposed economic solutions up to date and achievable? Please note the largest failure while you served in government as prime minister.

Our solutions are based on current macro and micro economic principles. Microeconomics categorically rejects the macroeconomic neo-Keynesian (spurring of demand) and neo-conservative and neo-classical (spurring of supply) approaches instituted in the West.

For example, as you know, in 2008-20009, due to the crisis, Armenia’s GDP dropped 14.1%, whilst the average international drop was 2.3%. Why? The Armenian government committed a professional mistake. It assumed loans (remember the $500 million from Russia) and began to spur the supply side. Copper and molybdenum weren’t selling, the government gave funds to Kajaran; the consumption of gas dropped, the government gave money to HayRusGazArd; people weren’t buying apartments and the government gave money to builders.

It was clear that money should have targeted to consumers so they could have purchased apartments at prices supervised by the government. Our government gave most of the money to the oligarchs. As a result, we got the 14% drop. This was a professional mistake that threw Armenia back five years.

Mr. Bagratyan, I don’t think you are naive enough to believe that we can have regime change without a revolt taking place. They will not and over the reins of power. The regime has made our people into sheep.

I fully agree with the idea of rebellion since it’s exactly what the authorities want.

Our government’s efforts to develop the potential of young people overseas are getting nowhere. I’m talking about the Louys Foundation, set up to assist needy bright students getting an education overseas and then return to Armenia with their skills. What do you think about the Louys Foundation and, if elected, what reforms would you make to improve its operation?

I would expand the list of colleges that students could attend with government sponsorship. I would set the funding scale based on progress. I would provide interest-free loans that could be paid off by repayment in cash or by working in Armenia.

Do you think it is possible to nationalize several profit making operations, say in the mining, communications or energy fields, so that the government could oversee them and insure that profits go to the government coffers?

I see problems in the mining sector. The entire privatization issue surrounding the Kajaran copper-molybdenum mine must be publicly reviewed.

The oligarchs, led by Serzh Sargsyan, will not voluntarily give up power. How can concerned citizens oblige them to leave?

By rebelling.

If elections are again falsified, what steps will the Armenian National Congress take in response?

All will be done to restore justice.

Mr. Bagratyan, I know that you are also a professional historian. Please talk about the economic, political and demographic indices that would point to the possibility of Armenia losing its independence. Are we facing such a threat today?

I believe we are approaching such a scenario. If the oligarchs maintain their dominance for any several years, coupled with a few more falsified elections and tax breaks to the church, Armenia as we know it just might cease to exist. The country can only survive for another 7-15 years given today’s conditions.

Generally, when we look at history, we see that the demise of states isn’t a direct result of foreign aggression. We have always lost our statehood due to internal reasons, stopping the country’s development. Statehood is a living organism that must develop in order to survive.

If your party gets elected to the parliament, will it nominate environmental specialists that can finally manage the environmental situation in Armenia; i.e. via state policy? Today, it seems that the ruling government has no such professionals capable of putting our environmental house in order.

There are many good professionals and I’m sure that this holds true for the environmental sector. I know for a fact that the Armenian National Congress has some in its ranks. It’s not only a question of having a good minister. Armenia’s environment, the natural landscape, is in need of preservation and protection. We must set up a national environmental council, by law, with members drawn from diverse backgrounds and geographic regions. This council must have the right to veto the proposed operation of any mine if it believes it poses an ecological risk.

What are you doing to regulate the foreign exchange market in Armenia and what steps are needed to stimulate exports? Should Armenia be focused on stimulating the export market?

Armenia’s currency should freely float up or down in relation to currencies where Armenian products are exported. This is a difficult but solvable problem. Periodically, it will require the sterilization of overseas transfers (the Central Bank will have to buy large amounts of foreign currency).

Armenia must place the stress not only on exports, but on the exportation of those products with high VAT values.