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ARMENIAN OPPOSITION WARNS OF MASS POLITICAL UNREST
Byline: Lilit Gevorgyan
Global Insight
September 13, 2011
Last week (on 9 September) thousands of as protesters gathered at
a demonstration organised by the Armenian National Congress (ANG),
an umbrella organisation that unites a number of (but not all) the
main opposition parties in the South Caucasian republic. The leader of
ANG, Levon Ter-Petrossian, slammed the Armenian authorities' move to
arrest an opposition activist accused of fighting with the police. The
organisers of the rally also demanded extra-term parliamentary and
presidential elections, threatening mass political unrest. One of
Ter-Petrossian's aides, journalist Nikol Pashinyan who has recently
been released from detention, told the protesters that "a revolutionary
situation has been created in Armenia. Everyone must be ready."
Significance:This rally is the first since the ANG stopped its
dialogue with the government. The protests, inspired by the Arab
Spring uprisings in the Middle East, started at the beginning of
the year but soon lost steam as Ter-Petrossian decided to opt for a
"velvet" or step-by-step revolution. The ANG launched talks with the
government of president Serzh Sargsyan, hoping that it will lead to
extraordinary elections. However, after the initial success when all
political prisoners were released, the talks started stalling. ANG
held its last round of talks with the government in August but
failed to reach an agreement on the election issue. Despite the
strong rhetoric of the ANG leaders it appears that they have lost
the momentum as well as the trust of some of the demonstrators. The
prolonged dialogue with the government has been interpreted by many
as appeasement to the current authorities. The other problem is that
should ANG return Ter-Petrossian, the first president of independent
Armenia, is likely to become the leader of the country again. This
means that essentially the same political group will retain power in
Armenia--it was Ter-Petrossian who handpicked his successor, Robert
Kocharian, who in turn backed the incumbent. To see mass civil unrest,
the Armenian opposition would need to unite and have fresh leaders.
Byline: Lilit Gevorgyan
Global Insight
September 13, 2011
Last week (on 9 September) thousands of as protesters gathered at
a demonstration organised by the Armenian National Congress (ANG),
an umbrella organisation that unites a number of (but not all) the
main opposition parties in the South Caucasian republic. The leader of
ANG, Levon Ter-Petrossian, slammed the Armenian authorities' move to
arrest an opposition activist accused of fighting with the police. The
organisers of the rally also demanded extra-term parliamentary and
presidential elections, threatening mass political unrest. One of
Ter-Petrossian's aides, journalist Nikol Pashinyan who has recently
been released from detention, told the protesters that "a revolutionary
situation has been created in Armenia. Everyone must be ready."
Significance:This rally is the first since the ANG stopped its
dialogue with the government. The protests, inspired by the Arab
Spring uprisings in the Middle East, started at the beginning of
the year but soon lost steam as Ter-Petrossian decided to opt for a
"velvet" or step-by-step revolution. The ANG launched talks with the
government of president Serzh Sargsyan, hoping that it will lead to
extraordinary elections. However, after the initial success when all
political prisoners were released, the talks started stalling. ANG
held its last round of talks with the government in August but
failed to reach an agreement on the election issue. Despite the
strong rhetoric of the ANG leaders it appears that they have lost
the momentum as well as the trust of some of the demonstrators. The
prolonged dialogue with the government has been interpreted by many
as appeasement to the current authorities. The other problem is that
should ANG return Ter-Petrossian, the first president of independent
Armenia, is likely to become the leader of the country again. This
means that essentially the same political group will retain power in
Armenia--it was Ter-Petrossian who handpicked his successor, Robert
Kocharian, who in turn backed the incumbent. To see mass civil unrest,
the Armenian opposition would need to unite and have fresh leaders.