At the remote meeting of the Board of Trustees of the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund held on Monday, 15 March 2021, the Chairman of the ADL Central Board, Mike Kharapyan, participated as the representative of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party.
At the meeting, chaired by the President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sarkissian and held in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister presented detailed and clear explanations regarding the directions in which the funds collected by the entire Armenian nation during the days of the war and transferred to the government had been spent.
The Board of Trustees expressed its satisfaction with the details presented and, as also noted in its subsequent statement, once again emphasized the fact that the funds had been used for their intended purposes.
As the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, from the very beginning we found unacceptable the raising of a clamour of distrust and the dubious efforts aimed at creating an illusion of suspicion among the public, especially since, as is known to all of us, the fundraising was carried out to confront the calamity of war, and the entire Armenian nation, clearly aware of this, collectively made its contribution. Moreover, dictated by the imperative of the moment, the donations made by the Fund to the state budget of Armenia were carried out with the consent of the members of the Board of Trustees, which includes the leadership of structures representing broad segments of the people. Therefore, if there was any concern, then, being zealous of the Fund’s reputation, and also taking into account the sensitivity of the issue relating to national security, the raising of that question should have been limited to the Board of Trustees, without publicizing it and making it the subject of discussion of foreign, international bodies.
In this regard, calling for refraining from short-sighted steps that harm the reputation and authority of the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund, we deem it necessary to record a few considerations:
The “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund is the only official pan-national structure in Armenia, where, alongside Artsakh and Armenia, the main national structures of the diaspora are also represented.
The “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund was established at the dictate of the historical disasters and trials experienced by the Armenian people, as a means of confronting future calamities.
As such, over the past 29 years, the Fund has proven through its activities its important role in the life of the Armenian people, satisfying the necessary, natural, human and national needs of the Armenian people.
Therefore, especially these days, when the Armenian people are living through anxious times and there are issues of national security, it is the moral responsibility of all of us to keep the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund above all kinds of domestic political speculation and to refrain from dangerous work that weakens the solidarity that has formed around it.
As for the idea of accountability in general, it is known to all of us that during the days of the last Artsakh war, contrary to the numerous official calls that all donations be directed directly to the Fund, separate fundraisings were organized by various institutions and national structures. Therefore, it would be appropriate for those bodies as well to present transparent accountability to their donors, to the Armenian people and to the Fund. And if they still have funds collected for that purpose, they are obliged to transfer them to the Fund without delay.
Dictated by the imperative of the day and at this fateful moment for the homeland, it was expected that the people and their leadership, becoming one fist, would unite around a unified solution to the question of the country’s destiny, but unfortunately we witnessed exactly the opposite. Moreover, an attempt was made to tarnish the reputation of one of the most important national structures — the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund.
It must be understood that everything has its time, politics as well:
On Behalf of:
THE CENTRAL BOARD OF THE ARMENIAN DEMOCRATIC LIBERAL PARTY
Raffi Balian | Secretary
Mike Kharapyan | Chairman
