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SOME SUMMER READING FOR ARMENIA'S PRESIDENT
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 10, 2011
NY
As part of its ongoing chat with the opposition, the Armenian
government on August 8 received an 87-page manifesto, which boils
down to a single message for President Serzh Sargsyan: "Serzh jan,
please resign and let me have a shot at the presidency. Yours truly,
Levon Ter-Petrosian."
Ter-Petrosian, the ex-president and current opposition leader, has
tried many avenues in the past to bring that message home. He has
led people into the streets to protest and delivered fiery speeches,
but his perseverance has been matched by Sargsyan's stubbornness.
Now it's time to see if prose can succeed where other means of
expression have failed.
At first glance, Ter-Petrosian, a philologist reportedly comfortable
with dashing off scholarly works in Russian and French, as well as
Armenian, might seem more than suited for this manifesto task.
In separate chapters, his Armenian National Congress (ANC) lists the
alleged falsification of the 2008 presidential elections, corruption,
mistrust of the judiciary system as among the reasons for early
presidential and parliamentary elections (otherwise due in 2013 and
2012, respectively).
Levon Zurabian, the Armenian National Congress' chief negotiator,
commented that the government's delegation listened "very attentively"
to the opposition's complaints, RFE/RL reported. A response is
requested by mid-August.
Nonetheless, whatever the ANC's writing skills, it seems fairly
unlikely that Sargsyan, after reading its opus, will come out and say:
"OK, you got me. Have your early election."
For one, the Armenian leader, chess buff that he is, has a past record
of keeping the opposition treading water.
And, for another, Sargsyan left town over a week ago on a "short"
vacation; he'll reappear on August 11 in Cyprus before jetting off to
Kazakhstan for a Collective Security Treaty Organization get-together
on August 12.
Not exactly the behavior of a president preparing to put his job up
for grabs come mid-August.
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 10, 2011
NY
As part of its ongoing chat with the opposition, the Armenian
government on August 8 received an 87-page manifesto, which boils
down to a single message for President Serzh Sargsyan: "Serzh jan,
please resign and let me have a shot at the presidency. Yours truly,
Levon Ter-Petrosian."
Ter-Petrosian, the ex-president and current opposition leader, has
tried many avenues in the past to bring that message home. He has
led people into the streets to protest and delivered fiery speeches,
but his perseverance has been matched by Sargsyan's stubbornness.
Now it's time to see if prose can succeed where other means of
expression have failed.
At first glance, Ter-Petrosian, a philologist reportedly comfortable
with dashing off scholarly works in Russian and French, as well as
Armenian, might seem more than suited for this manifesto task.
In separate chapters, his Armenian National Congress (ANC) lists the
alleged falsification of the 2008 presidential elections, corruption,
mistrust of the judiciary system as among the reasons for early
presidential and parliamentary elections (otherwise due in 2013 and
2012, respectively).
Levon Zurabian, the Armenian National Congress' chief negotiator,
commented that the government's delegation listened "very attentively"
to the opposition's complaints, RFE/RL reported. A response is
requested by mid-August.
Nonetheless, whatever the ANC's writing skills, it seems fairly
unlikely that Sargsyan, after reading its opus, will come out and say:
"OK, you got me. Have your early election."
For one, the Armenian leader, chess buff that he is, has a past record
of keeping the opposition treading water.
And, for another, Sargsyan left town over a week ago on a "short"
vacation; he'll reappear on August 11 in Cyprus before jetting off to
Kazakhstan for a Collective Security Treaty Organization get-together
on August 12.
Not exactly the behavior of a president preparing to put his job up
for grabs come mid-August.