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ARMENIAN PAPER SAYS PRO-RUSSIAN FORCES BEHIND OPPOSITION DEFECTION
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
6 Sep 05
Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak
on 6 September headlined "Redistribution"
The defection of [former Yerevan mayor] Albert Bazeyan and
like-minded people from the Anrapetutyun [Republic] Party is not at
all an announcement on the end of their opposition activity. To all
appearances, they will continue the activity within the framework
of the Justice bloc. If this is the case, it will mean the said
defection is not aimed against the opposition but against the leader
of the Anrapetutyun Party, Aram Sarkisyan. Having lost many members
of his party's political council, Sarkisyan has been deprived of an
opportunity to become a single leader of the opposition.
It is not ruled out that this is the true essence of what has happened,
and most probably Bazeyan's team will unite around [leader of the
Justice bloc] Stepan Demirchyan as, in fact, the latter is the only
one of the three opposition leaders who does not speak English and
has not spoken against close ties with Russia. From this viewpoint,
the incident in the Anrapetutyun Party is an unpleasant surprise for
[leader of the National Unity party] Artashes Gegamyan too because,
most probably, a balance of the forces within the opposition may
change in favour of Demirchyan.
On the eve of the expected political activity in Armenia, Russia
is trying to centralize forces around Stepan Demirchyan. But almost
certainly the only purpose of this consolidation is a repetition of the
scenario of 2003-2004, when the opposition forced [Armenian President]
Robert Kocharyan to take pro-Russian stance.
We should note that after the defection of Bazeyan's group from the
Anrapetutyun Party, it has a real opportunity to become a party. In
fact, up until today Anrapetutyun has been a union of Kocharyan's
opponents, and it is not a coincidence that the split occurred at
the moment when the party was trying to determine its ideology. The
defection of Bazeyan's group means the loss of certain human resources
for Anrapetutyun. On the other hand, the determination of ideology
may create new opportunities for attracting new human resources. From
this viewpoint, it is a high time for Aram Sarkisyan to prove his
existence as a politician.
Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
6 Sep 05
Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Aykakan Zhamanak
on 6 September headlined "Redistribution"
The defection of [former Yerevan mayor] Albert Bazeyan and
like-minded people from the Anrapetutyun [Republic] Party is not at
all an announcement on the end of their opposition activity. To all
appearances, they will continue the activity within the framework
of the Justice bloc. If this is the case, it will mean the said
defection is not aimed against the opposition but against the leader
of the Anrapetutyun Party, Aram Sarkisyan. Having lost many members
of his party's political council, Sarkisyan has been deprived of an
opportunity to become a single leader of the opposition.
It is not ruled out that this is the true essence of what has happened,
and most probably Bazeyan's team will unite around [leader of the
Justice bloc] Stepan Demirchyan as, in fact, the latter is the only
one of the three opposition leaders who does not speak English and
has not spoken against close ties with Russia. From this viewpoint,
the incident in the Anrapetutyun Party is an unpleasant surprise for
[leader of the National Unity party] Artashes Gegamyan too because,
most probably, a balance of the forces within the opposition may
change in favour of Demirchyan.
On the eve of the expected political activity in Armenia, Russia
is trying to centralize forces around Stepan Demirchyan. But almost
certainly the only purpose of this consolidation is a repetition of the
scenario of 2003-2004, when the opposition forced [Armenian President]
Robert Kocharyan to take pro-Russian stance.
We should note that after the defection of Bazeyan's group from the
Anrapetutyun Party, it has a real opportunity to become a party. In
fact, up until today Anrapetutyun has been a union of Kocharyan's
opponents, and it is not a coincidence that the split occurred at
the moment when the party was trying to determine its ideology. The
defection of Bazeyan's group means the loss of certain human resources
for Anrapetutyun. On the other hand, the determination of ideology
may create new opportunities for attracting new human resources. From
this viewpoint, it is a high time for Aram Sarkisyan to prove his
existence as a politician.