Despite the fact that the MP Lyudmila Sargsyan is 66 years yet she continues learning. At the moment she studies at the Northern University and will graduate from it this year. Lyudmila Sargsyan spoke about her legislative activities, her family and hobbies.
The MP smiles speaking about her hobbies, saying that she likes playing backgammon and ensures that either in the politics or in the games she chooses worth opponents. Details in the regular interview of the series “Women in the Legislative”.
-Mrs. Sargsyan let’s begin from your childhood. I know that you were born in Tbilisi, please tell about your childhood.
-I have had a bright childhood, first of all those times were great. I am brought up in the family of a businessman; my childhood passed in Krasnodar Krai, we were going to Anapa for 3 months every summer. I have had a very interesting, good and impish childhood. I think that childhood is decisive for the further life of a person. Free speech was welcomed in our family, many debates were taking place. Although my father was conservative like other families in those days, yet he was a very democratic person in the soul. There were 4 children in our family, I was the youngest and most courageous, and could use that favorable condition. In substance it influenced on my further faith, courageous steps and on the decision of becoming a politician. I can only be thankful to my family and my father. Everything that I have received in my childhood was the basis which I have developed in the future. I have attended an Armenian secondary school. I cannot to express opinion about the schools of Yerevan but the quality of the knowledge that we received at school could have been one of the best in Armenia. To sum up the atmosphere, the qualities that I have gained in my school years have been a guideline for my further interests and directions of work.
-I have studied your biography, where did you study and work. In 1982 you graduated from the College of Electronic Calculating Machines of Yerevan. You have received a profession of technician, mathematician-programmer, then you studied in the faculty of Informatics and Computer Science (programming) of the Northern University. How the technician, engineer and then an accountant entered the field of politics and legislation.
-First of all I would like to mention that I have studied for two years in the Polytechnic Institute, but then I left it because my second child was born. It was in 1988, a very hard year, I was not able to continue, but instead of it I gave a very good education to my daughters. I have not worked so hard for a diploma, my aim is the knowledge. You know well about the educational level of those who have a diploma. However, I entered the same faculty of the Northern University and I am graduating from it this year. It is for those who think that not having a diploma is a great defect.
-Is mathematical accuracy needed in legislation and how does your profession help you in this field?
-At the very beginning I did not deal with legislation when I began the political activities. I was a politician. I have to say that the legislative work depends on many factors, human qualities, influence of speech, and your abilities to elaborate the law. The person is either capable or not. You may receive a great knowledge with a great diploma, but you may not be capable of introduce your offer. Comprehensive development and human kind, courage, persistence and logic help you to put every problem in the right direction of solution. I work very efficiently in the NA, may be not so efficient as I would like to, but we also need to consider that I was elected an MP in the 5th convocation of NA, and this was my first such practice. In addition there are a lot of MPs who were elected in the 3rd and 4th convictions as well and are real professionals.
-I think the tribune of the National Assembly is not only for making announcements, it has a deeper meaning. What do you think of this platform?
– I have a serious attitude to that tribune, in the term that speaking in NA is not simply making a speech at the meeting; it is a tribune of legislative body, a political tribune. In order to use it completely, one must pass a certain way; those who think it is a very quick and easy way find themselves in a funny situation, because when you do not have anything to say it is senseless to come near to the tribune, as your speech becomes funny.
-Let us speak about your family, you have two daughters, how old are they and how have you brought them up?
-One of my daughters is 28 the other is 33. In general I used to have conversations with them, bringing different examples and also by my behavior. I have always taught that speech has no value if behavior contradicts to it. That is what I am. I have tried to be fair so that they could distinguish the evil from the good. I tried to make them self-dependant, self-confidant and today I am satisfied with the result. The child is brought up by the example of parents; I have tried to be a good example for them.
-What do you read apart from the professional literature?
-I always read very much, maybe in the recent years I read less but before that I read the European literature, and Russian classics in Russian. In the recent years I got interested in fiction books. I have to be frank and tell both to you and to myself that when you pass a long haul and gain experience, some books that once you were excited with, lose their meaning.
-What musical preferences do you have?
-Pop, rock everything is acceptable and I always listen to it but classical music is in the first place. Beethoven’s 5th and 9th symphonies, the first concert of Tchaikovsky. I do my works listening to music, sum up my minds. Music helps me and never bothers if it is not noisy.
-Do you have any hobbies?
-Maybe you will laugh, but I also play backgammon, I am fond of playing backgammon if the opponent is strong. Nothing is strange for me. Nevertheless I do not have any special hobbies. I will only mention that I always liked having good books. In the recent years I did not have much time to visist bookstores and finding new things. I have had a very good library, but I left it to my brother. Now I am collecting new one.
Interview by Gevorg Tosunyan
Photos by Aleksander Sargsyan
Author of the idea – Karen Zadoyan
