Haykakan Zhamanak, Armenia
Jan 15 2008
KARABAKH CLAN HAS UNBALANCED POWER IN ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT
"Why did they not complete the Karabakhization?"
The theory that the [Armenian President Robert] Kocharyan - [Armenian
Prime Minister Serzh] Sargsyan tandem views the forthcoming
presidential election as the beginning of the last stage in the
centralization of power in the hands of the Karabakh clan and
concentration of all the best shares in the hands of natives of
Karabakh raises a question among many people - why Kocharyan and
Sargsyan did not do this before?
This question is faulty itself as there are many natives of Karabakh
who have been occupying senior posts in Armenia over the past 10
years that this process has been going on.
It became more terrible after Serzh Sargsyan became prime minister -
the former Nagornyy Karabakh republic defence minister, Seyran
Ohanyan, was appointed chief of the Armenian Army Staff; Vahram
Barseghyan, who is of Karabakh descent, was appointed the head of the
State Tax Service; Lida Nanyan, who is also of Karabakh descent, was
appointed governor of Shirak Region; judges, heads of police
departments, middle-ranking officials and others were appointed
according to this principle.
However, the issue discussed at this moment is not this enumeration
but an answer to the question why Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan
have not completed the started Karabakhization of the Armenian
authorities and business and will do this after the forthcoming
presidential election. The thing is that over the past 10 years a
situation has emerged for the first time where the ruling tandem of
the Karabakh clan has unbalanced power.
Until now they had the most serious balance in the face of the prime
minister of Armenian descent. Vazgen Sargsyan first played the role
of this hugest balance. After 27 October [terrorist attack in
Armenian parliament in which Vazgen Sargsyan and other senior
officials were killed] his brother, Aram Sargsyan, acquired this
role.
The chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan, then played a huge role in this respect.
Undoubtedly, Margaryan's role in the domestic political life is said
to have been dual, and both sides of this role were real. On the one
hand, Margaryan, after the well- known events, in essence, helped the
Kocharyan-Sargsyan tandem to maintain power and, incidentally, did
this several times. On the other hand, he played the role of a
protector of the interests of the Armenians of Armenia and of
Armenian values within the authorities. The Armenians of Armenia,
even the most radical opposition members, who have fallen victim to
Kocharyan-Sargsyan malice, could solve their problems with
Margaryan's help.
Of course, Margaryan did not have absolute power while being prime
minister, but his role in the domestic political life and his office
of prime minister allowed him to carry out some personnel policy or
to restrain the process of Karabakhization. After his death, in fact,
the Karabakh clan got a free way, as there is no influential person
in the government who could counter-balance the Kocharyan-Sargsyan
tandem, and in a wider sense, serve, saying conditionally, the
interests of the Armenians of Armenia.
[Passage omitted: Sargsyan would not be leader of the Republican
party if Margaryan was alive; repetition]
The reason the Karabakh clan is trying not to be especially
aggressive is that the presidential election is approaching and
Armenia's resources are still needed in order to make Sargsyan
president and Kocharyan prime minister. After this point a thing
deliberated by Serzh Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan and Samvel Babayan
[former defence minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic] will
start. It will not succeed, of course, as the game has become so
obvious now that everyone - starting from influential oligarchs to
officials of Armenian descent - have realized what is going on.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Jan 15 2008
KARABAKH CLAN HAS UNBALANCED POWER IN ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT
"Why did they not complete the Karabakhization?"
The theory that the [Armenian President Robert] Kocharyan - [Armenian
Prime Minister Serzh] Sargsyan tandem views the forthcoming
presidential election as the beginning of the last stage in the
centralization of power in the hands of the Karabakh clan and
concentration of all the best shares in the hands of natives of
Karabakh raises a question among many people - why Kocharyan and
Sargsyan did not do this before?
This question is faulty itself as there are many natives of Karabakh
who have been occupying senior posts in Armenia over the past 10
years that this process has been going on.
It became more terrible after Serzh Sargsyan became prime minister -
the former Nagornyy Karabakh republic defence minister, Seyran
Ohanyan, was appointed chief of the Armenian Army Staff; Vahram
Barseghyan, who is of Karabakh descent, was appointed the head of the
State Tax Service; Lida Nanyan, who is also of Karabakh descent, was
appointed governor of Shirak Region; judges, heads of police
departments, middle-ranking officials and others were appointed
according to this principle.
However, the issue discussed at this moment is not this enumeration
but an answer to the question why Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan
have not completed the started Karabakhization of the Armenian
authorities and business and will do this after the forthcoming
presidential election. The thing is that over the past 10 years a
situation has emerged for the first time where the ruling tandem of
the Karabakh clan has unbalanced power.
Until now they had the most serious balance in the face of the prime
minister of Armenian descent. Vazgen Sargsyan first played the role
of this hugest balance. After 27 October [terrorist attack in
Armenian parliament in which Vazgen Sargsyan and other senior
officials were killed] his brother, Aram Sargsyan, acquired this
role.
The chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan, then played a huge role in this respect.
Undoubtedly, Margaryan's role in the domestic political life is said
to have been dual, and both sides of this role were real. On the one
hand, Margaryan, after the well- known events, in essence, helped the
Kocharyan-Sargsyan tandem to maintain power and, incidentally, did
this several times. On the other hand, he played the role of a
protector of the interests of the Armenians of Armenia and of
Armenian values within the authorities. The Armenians of Armenia,
even the most radical opposition members, who have fallen victim to
Kocharyan-Sargsyan malice, could solve their problems with
Margaryan's help.
Of course, Margaryan did not have absolute power while being prime
minister, but his role in the domestic political life and his office
of prime minister allowed him to carry out some personnel policy or
to restrain the process of Karabakhization. After his death, in fact,
the Karabakh clan got a free way, as there is no influential person
in the government who could counter-balance the Kocharyan-Sargsyan
tandem, and in a wider sense, serve, saying conditionally, the
interests of the Armenians of Armenia.
[Passage omitted: Sargsyan would not be leader of the Republican
party if Margaryan was alive; repetition]
The reason the Karabakh clan is trying not to be especially
aggressive is that the presidential election is approaching and
Armenia's resources are still needed in order to make Sargsyan
president and Kocharyan prime minister. After this point a thing
deliberated by Serzh Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan and Samvel Babayan
[former defence minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic] will
start. It will not succeed, of course, as the game has become so
obvious now that everyone - starting from influential oligarchs to
officials of Armenian descent - have realized what is going on.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress