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WIKILEAKS: KOCHARYAN BIDES TIME FOR RETURN TO POWER
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 6, 2011 - 20:28 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - WikiLeaks whistle blowing website has published
another stack of U.S. Department of State cables classified by deputy
head of U.S. diplomatic mission in Armenia Joseph Pennington after
meeting with Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction secretary
Samvel Nikoyan.
According to reports dated February 18, 2009, Nikoyan confided February
18 that political intrigues aimed at unseating Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsian have dropped off from their peak in December. Nikoyan said
that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had gone to see ex-President
Robert Kocharyan at some point after the December 26 National
Assembly tax legislation vote in which ruling coalition partners
Prosperous Armenia and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) had
openly broken with President Sargyian's Republican Party to vote
against the government-sponsored legislation. Prosperous Armenia
leader Gagik Tsarukyan and some ARF parliamentarians had vigorously
criticized the legislation, which pits the economic interests of
various well-connected business oligarchs against each other.
Nikoyan said Sargsian told Kocharian, "you can be prime minister
if you want, but you'll have to bring a new president too." The
clear implication was that Sargsyan would not tolerate Kocharyan's
continued political manoeuvring against Sargsyan's government,
and to continue sponsoring these political proxy wars would mean a
full-scale confrontation.
As Pennington cables say, "we consider Nikoyan a fairly frank and
authoritative source on internal Republican Party matters. He is very
much Serzh Sargsyan's man."
Nikoyan volunteered his assessment that if Kocharyan truly set his
mind to oust the Prime Minister and take his place, Kocharyan would
be able to rally enough votes in the National Assembly to win a
no-confidence measure, despite President Sargsyan's opposition.
However, it seems that Kocharyan is not disposed, at present, to
provoke open political warfare with his former protege Serzh Sargsyan
over it.
"Our sense is that Nikoyan's version of events is corroborated by
experience; breathless rumors of Tigran Sargsyan's imminent ouster
have indeed thinned in the past few weeks. The political rumor
mill was abuzz in January with ubiquitous gossip about Prosperous
Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan's well-televised foreign travel and
other indications and rumors that Tsarukyan would shortly take over
as Prime Minister. Nikoyan himself had pointedly not dismissed the
possibility a mere two weeks ago, when we had sceptically questioned
whether anyone seriously thought the unlettered former wrestler could
be named PM. The fact that President Sargsyan headlined the Prosperous
Armenia party congress February 12 with a landmark speech -- the
major points of which were subsequently parroted back by Tsarukyan --
shows that the President has, for now at least, made the point that
Prosperous Armenia remains loyal to him.
If true, it is very interesting that Sargsyan directly confronted
Kocharyan on his political machinations and that Kocharyan backed off.
However, it is also a potentially worrisome sign of how difficult
the relations between the two may have become. We suspect that
Kocharyan will only bide his time, perhaps wait until the coming
economic/financial crisis has ripened to the detriment of the two
Sargsyans' popularity ratings, and then perhaps make a more decisive
move to return to power in some capacity," the cables said.
At September 6, 2011 news conference in Yerevan, RPA faction secretary
Galust Sahakyan pointed out complete absence of differences between
current President Sargsyan and ex-President Kocharyan. "These are
people who've been together through a war. Such people can't possibly
have contradictions," the parliamentarian stressed.
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 6, 2011 - 20:28 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - WikiLeaks whistle blowing website has published
another stack of U.S. Department of State cables classified by deputy
head of U.S. diplomatic mission in Armenia Joseph Pennington after
meeting with Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction secretary
Samvel Nikoyan.
According to reports dated February 18, 2009, Nikoyan confided February
18 that political intrigues aimed at unseating Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsian have dropped off from their peak in December. Nikoyan said
that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had gone to see ex-President
Robert Kocharyan at some point after the December 26 National
Assembly tax legislation vote in which ruling coalition partners
Prosperous Armenia and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) had
openly broken with President Sargyian's Republican Party to vote
against the government-sponsored legislation. Prosperous Armenia
leader Gagik Tsarukyan and some ARF parliamentarians had vigorously
criticized the legislation, which pits the economic interests of
various well-connected business oligarchs against each other.
Nikoyan said Sargsian told Kocharian, "you can be prime minister
if you want, but you'll have to bring a new president too." The
clear implication was that Sargsyan would not tolerate Kocharyan's
continued political manoeuvring against Sargsyan's government,
and to continue sponsoring these political proxy wars would mean a
full-scale confrontation.
As Pennington cables say, "we consider Nikoyan a fairly frank and
authoritative source on internal Republican Party matters. He is very
much Serzh Sargsyan's man."
Nikoyan volunteered his assessment that if Kocharyan truly set his
mind to oust the Prime Minister and take his place, Kocharyan would
be able to rally enough votes in the National Assembly to win a
no-confidence measure, despite President Sargsyan's opposition.
However, it seems that Kocharyan is not disposed, at present, to
provoke open political warfare with his former protege Serzh Sargsyan
over it.
"Our sense is that Nikoyan's version of events is corroborated by
experience; breathless rumors of Tigran Sargsyan's imminent ouster
have indeed thinned in the past few weeks. The political rumor
mill was abuzz in January with ubiquitous gossip about Prosperous
Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan's well-televised foreign travel and
other indications and rumors that Tsarukyan would shortly take over
as Prime Minister. Nikoyan himself had pointedly not dismissed the
possibility a mere two weeks ago, when we had sceptically questioned
whether anyone seriously thought the unlettered former wrestler could
be named PM. The fact that President Sargsyan headlined the Prosperous
Armenia party congress February 12 with a landmark speech -- the
major points of which were subsequently parroted back by Tsarukyan --
shows that the President has, for now at least, made the point that
Prosperous Armenia remains loyal to him.
If true, it is very interesting that Sargsyan directly confronted
Kocharyan on his political machinations and that Kocharyan backed off.
However, it is also a potentially worrisome sign of how difficult
the relations between the two may have become. We suspect that
Kocharyan will only bide his time, perhaps wait until the coming
economic/financial crisis has ripened to the detriment of the two
Sargsyans' popularity ratings, and then perhaps make a more decisive
move to return to power in some capacity," the cables said.
At September 6, 2011 news conference in Yerevan, RPA faction secretary
Galust Sahakyan pointed out complete absence of differences between
current President Sargsyan and ex-President Kocharyan. "These are
people who've been together through a war. Such people can't possibly
have contradictions," the parliamentarian stressed.