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The Victims of Serzh Sarkisian's Drive to Consolidate Power
http://massispost.com/?p=4845
Friday, November 4th, 2011
By Armen Arakelyan
Hetq.am
Serzh Sarkisian has launched his project to formulate a monolith power
base five months before the parliamentary elections.
He wasn't able to do this during the past two and a half years in power.
A two-tiered government had been set up after the 2008 presidential
elections. One was the public government that belonged to Serzh
Sarkisian and the other was the shadow government that was the
property of former President Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian ran that government from behind the curtains, employing a
variety of individuals - National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamian,
RA minister for Territorial Affairs Armen Grigorian, Prosecutor
General Aghvan Hovsepian, Prosperous Armenia Party President Gagik
Tsarukian and others.
One can state that to date, Serzh Sarkisian hadn't been `ruling' over
this legacy in Armenia but merely managing it, which he inherited from
Kocharian.
And it is a well-known fact that the owner can change his manager at
any time or after the contract has expired.
This duality put Sarkisian in a situation of dependency from the Kocharian wing.
This dependency was shaped with the extremely heavy legacy of March 1,
domestic and external crises linked to the question of his very
legitimacy as president, and the activities of the radical opposition
in Armenia.
During the past three years, Sarkisian has constantly striven to
neutralize all the factors that were maintaining his dependency on
Kocharian. To a large degree, he has been successful.
The Council of Europe has essentially closed the page on the March 1
tragedy and has freed the government from revealing the true criminals
involved.
Secondly, by making serious concessions in the matter of
Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and the Karabakh conflict settlement,
Sarkisian has been able to remove the matter of his legitimacy off the
agenda of the international community.
Thirdly, these achievements have essentially stripped the opposition
of any foreign assistance.
On the other hand, the Armenian National Congress, due to its
inconsistency, unwise and rushed behavior, has been deprived of wide
popular support. This has allowed the government to avoid domestic
pressure and social-political tremors.
In other words, in the lead-up to the parliamentary election a
situation had been created in which there was nothing to prevent Serzh
Sarkisian to redefine the political landscape in his image and to make
the necessary personnel changes.
Sarkisian was also prompted to make such moves given the possible
return to politics of his predecessor, Kocharian.
Even though Sarkisian was able to renew the coalition contract with
the three parties involved and gain their backing for his presidential
run in 2013, he felt compelled to make changes on the ground and not
merely rely on a piece of paper.
The centripetal tendencies of the Prosperous Armenia Party in this
regard made Sarkisian even more aware of the need to take concrete
steps in this direction.
The only remaining potential obstacle was the Russian factor.
Sarkisian's official visit to Russia last month perhaps finally shored
up his position on this front as well.
It is not coincidental that the serious staff changes in the Armenian
government began immediately after the Russian visit.
All of Sarkisian's personnel changes are clearly aimed at
consolidating his power and administrative resources.
Using all the state and administrative levers at his disposal,
Sarkisian has been able to obtain the `loyalty' of Gagik Tsarukian.
Thus, the shadow Kocharian government has been stripped of its
political base.
The next move was to remove Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetian, a good
manager but not a political figure that Sarkisian could rely on in the
upcoming elections in terms of using the administrative levers at his
disposal for electoral aims.
Karapetian was replaced with Taron Margarian, a young Republican Party
member with political ambitions and who is devoted to the president.
Margarian is seen as someone who can use his experience as a political
operator during his tenure as Avan District Leader, across all of
Yerevan. He is also seen as someone who can effectively bridge the gap
between the old and new guard within the party.
Armenia's Police Chief Alik Sarkisian had to go because even given his
loyalty to the government he remained an outside figure to the inner
sanctum of the agency. The department's authority had suffered under
Alik Sarkisian's watch as well and morale suffered, raising doubts in
the ruling government that Armenia's law enforcement would be willing
and able to serve its interests when called upon.
Alik Sarkisian's replacement, Vladimir Gasbarian, started his career
in the police system and maintains close contacts with the force. He's
an insider, unlike his predecessor.
The resignation of National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamian in
this scenario of personnel rearrangements is unique from a political
perspective.
The justification for Abrahamian's dismissal, that he has been
selected to run the campaign headquarters of Serzh Sarkisian, is
absurd and makes no sense.
No government official in the past, let alone on the level of
parliament president, has ever resigned from office to assume this
post.
President Sarkisian, in fact, simply wished to isolate Abrahamian,
both administratively and politically, while at the same time keeping
him under check.
By neutralizing Abrahamian politically, Serzh Sarkisian has
essentially beheaded the Kocharian wing in the government.
This poses a clear choice for the rest like Armen Gevorgian and Aghvan
Hovsepian.
Either they must accept the new game rules and become full members of
the Serzh Sarkisian camp or voluntarily resign as well.
http://massispost.com/?p=4845
Friday, November 4th, 2011
By Armen Arakelyan
Hetq.am
Serzh Sarkisian has launched his project to formulate a monolith power
base five months before the parliamentary elections.
He wasn't able to do this during the past two and a half years in power.
A two-tiered government had been set up after the 2008 presidential
elections. One was the public government that belonged to Serzh
Sarkisian and the other was the shadow government that was the
property of former President Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian ran that government from behind the curtains, employing a
variety of individuals - National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamian,
RA minister for Territorial Affairs Armen Grigorian, Prosecutor
General Aghvan Hovsepian, Prosperous Armenia Party President Gagik
Tsarukian and others.
One can state that to date, Serzh Sarkisian hadn't been `ruling' over
this legacy in Armenia but merely managing it, which he inherited from
Kocharian.
And it is a well-known fact that the owner can change his manager at
any time or after the contract has expired.
This duality put Sarkisian in a situation of dependency from the Kocharian wing.
This dependency was shaped with the extremely heavy legacy of March 1,
domestic and external crises linked to the question of his very
legitimacy as president, and the activities of the radical opposition
in Armenia.
During the past three years, Sarkisian has constantly striven to
neutralize all the factors that were maintaining his dependency on
Kocharian. To a large degree, he has been successful.
The Council of Europe has essentially closed the page on the March 1
tragedy and has freed the government from revealing the true criminals
involved.
Secondly, by making serious concessions in the matter of
Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and the Karabakh conflict settlement,
Sarkisian has been able to remove the matter of his legitimacy off the
agenda of the international community.
Thirdly, these achievements have essentially stripped the opposition
of any foreign assistance.
On the other hand, the Armenian National Congress, due to its
inconsistency, unwise and rushed behavior, has been deprived of wide
popular support. This has allowed the government to avoid domestic
pressure and social-political tremors.
In other words, in the lead-up to the parliamentary election a
situation had been created in which there was nothing to prevent Serzh
Sarkisian to redefine the political landscape in his image and to make
the necessary personnel changes.
Sarkisian was also prompted to make such moves given the possible
return to politics of his predecessor, Kocharian.
Even though Sarkisian was able to renew the coalition contract with
the three parties involved and gain their backing for his presidential
run in 2013, he felt compelled to make changes on the ground and not
merely rely on a piece of paper.
The centripetal tendencies of the Prosperous Armenia Party in this
regard made Sarkisian even more aware of the need to take concrete
steps in this direction.
The only remaining potential obstacle was the Russian factor.
Sarkisian's official visit to Russia last month perhaps finally shored
up his position on this front as well.
It is not coincidental that the serious staff changes in the Armenian
government began immediately after the Russian visit.
All of Sarkisian's personnel changes are clearly aimed at
consolidating his power and administrative resources.
Using all the state and administrative levers at his disposal,
Sarkisian has been able to obtain the `loyalty' of Gagik Tsarukian.
Thus, the shadow Kocharian government has been stripped of its
political base.
The next move was to remove Yerevan Mayor Karen Karapetian, a good
manager but not a political figure that Sarkisian could rely on in the
upcoming elections in terms of using the administrative levers at his
disposal for electoral aims.
Karapetian was replaced with Taron Margarian, a young Republican Party
member with political ambitions and who is devoted to the president.
Margarian is seen as someone who can use his experience as a political
operator during his tenure as Avan District Leader, across all of
Yerevan. He is also seen as someone who can effectively bridge the gap
between the old and new guard within the party.
Armenia's Police Chief Alik Sarkisian had to go because even given his
loyalty to the government he remained an outside figure to the inner
sanctum of the agency. The department's authority had suffered under
Alik Sarkisian's watch as well and morale suffered, raising doubts in
the ruling government that Armenia's law enforcement would be willing
and able to serve its interests when called upon.
Alik Sarkisian's replacement, Vladimir Gasbarian, started his career
in the police system and maintains close contacts with the force. He's
an insider, unlike his predecessor.
The resignation of National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamian in
this scenario of personnel rearrangements is unique from a political
perspective.
The justification for Abrahamian's dismissal, that he has been
selected to run the campaign headquarters of Serzh Sarkisian, is
absurd and makes no sense.
No government official in the past, let alone on the level of
parliament president, has ever resigned from office to assume this
post.
President Sarkisian, in fact, simply wished to isolate Abrahamian,
both administratively and politically, while at the same time keeping
him under check.
By neutralizing Abrahamian politically, Serzh Sarkisian has
essentially beheaded the Kocharian wing in the government.
This poses a clear choice for the rest like Armen Gevorgian and Aghvan
Hovsepian.
Either they must accept the new game rules and become full members of
the Serzh Sarkisian camp or voluntarily resign as well.