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"NAVAL" BATTLE OF LEVON TER-PETROSSIAN AND "PARADE OF MEETINGS" SUM UP LAST WEEK'S POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Hayk Khalatyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 5, 2012
The week was summed up by Armenian Eagles rally headed by notorious
deputy minister for sport and youth affairs Khachik Asryan.
The past week was rich in various political events. On the one hand,
heated debates developed in the parliament on the bill "On legal
regime of the state of emergency" and over voting on the opposition's
bill proposing shift to 100% proportional system of elections to the
National Assembly; on the other hand, the Armenian National Congress
held its first rally in 2012 scheduled for February 17. In addition,
some parties held rallies as part of their election campaigns for
the upcoming parliamentary elections.
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Congress (ANC) held its rally
on March 1 in commemoration of the tragic events of 2008.
Traditionally, the concluding remarks of ANC leader, first president of
Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian abounding in sarcasm and irony, were the
most interesting part of the meeting. The participants particularly
liked the remark that "the ship of the second president (Robert
Kocharian) has already sunk, and the ship of the third one (Serzh
Sargsyan) is sinking". During previous rallies Ter-Petrossian used to
compare the political fight to chess, while now he seems to be obsessed
again by the "naval battle"game so popular among Soviet-era students.
Failing to reach agreement over the ANC list for the upcoming
elections, and thus confirming rumors about conflicts over the
number and order of candidates in the list, the ANC Political Council
entrusted their leader with this mission. This vividly demonstrated
the route Ter-Petrossian's own ship follows in the ocean of political
battle. Indeed, Ter-Petrossian still enjoys indisputable authority
within the ANC; meanwhile, making up an electoral list for 18 parties
is a challenging task. However, Stevenson's novels hint us that
captains of pirate ships were getting a "black label" from their
crew in case they failed to implement a mission, with all subsequent
consequences.
Another indirect proof of ANC ship condition was the meeting of
the opposition Heritage party on March 2. Though the meeting did
not officially announce the alliance between the Heritage and Free
Democrats, the parties confirmed that they have reached a principle
agreement on the matter, and they just need a formal procedure which
is likely to be finalized at Free Democrats meeting on March 11. By
joining efforts with the Free Democrats, Heritage will acquire both
financial support and skilled election experts. It's worth mentioning
that 11 heads of regional offices of Ter-Petrossian's 2008 presidential
campaign are currently members of Free Democrats, including the head
of the chief office Alexander Arzumanian.
A number of pro-governmental parties and unions also organized their
meetings and rallies. The coalition party Orinats Yerkir which many
experts believe will fail at the coming elections due to lack of
popular support, held its meeting on March 3. Leaders of the party's
coalition partners, head of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia,
President Serzh Sargsyan and head of Prosperous Armenia party Gagik
Tsarukyan attended the event. As always, the meeting praised party
leader Artur Baghdasaryan who spoke for about 45 minutes, once again
voicing his loyalty to current President.
An interesting remark: following the stand-up party organized during
the meeting, the doors of the Sport Concert Complex that hosted
the event appeared to be closed. This was perhaps done to prevent
participants of the meeting driven by "support and commitment" to
the party, from escaping. This was the first time I witnessed such
a thing during a SCC-hosted event.
Pro-governmental MIAK party bringing together young liberals also
convened a meeting during the weekend. The meeting participants
voiced their support to President Serzh Sargsyan and said several
MIAK members may appear on RPA election list.
The final stroke of the week was the rally of public patriotic
organization Armenian Eagles held in Freedom Square on March 4.
Notorious leader of the party, deputy minister for sport and youth
affairs of Armenia Khachik Asryan spoke at the meeting. Claiming he is
"ready to protect the gates of hell by Serzh Sargsyan's order", Asryan
voiced his unconditional support for the current president. Quoting
numerical superiority of the rally's "eagles" over ANC supporters,
he declared that "it is Levon Ter-Petrossian's ship that sinks,
and not Serzh Sargsyan's one."
From: Baghdasarian
Hayk Khalatyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 5, 2012
The week was summed up by Armenian Eagles rally headed by notorious
deputy minister for sport and youth affairs Khachik Asryan.
The past week was rich in various political events. On the one hand,
heated debates developed in the parliament on the bill "On legal
regime of the state of emergency" and over voting on the opposition's
bill proposing shift to 100% proportional system of elections to the
National Assembly; on the other hand, the Armenian National Congress
held its first rally in 2012 scheduled for February 17. In addition,
some parties held rallies as part of their election campaigns for
the upcoming parliamentary elections.
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Congress (ANC) held its rally
on March 1 in commemoration of the tragic events of 2008.
Traditionally, the concluding remarks of ANC leader, first president of
Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian abounding in sarcasm and irony, were the
most interesting part of the meeting. The participants particularly
liked the remark that "the ship of the second president (Robert
Kocharian) has already sunk, and the ship of the third one (Serzh
Sargsyan) is sinking". During previous rallies Ter-Petrossian used to
compare the political fight to chess, while now he seems to be obsessed
again by the "naval battle"game so popular among Soviet-era students.
Failing to reach agreement over the ANC list for the upcoming
elections, and thus confirming rumors about conflicts over the
number and order of candidates in the list, the ANC Political Council
entrusted their leader with this mission. This vividly demonstrated
the route Ter-Petrossian's own ship follows in the ocean of political
battle. Indeed, Ter-Petrossian still enjoys indisputable authority
within the ANC; meanwhile, making up an electoral list for 18 parties
is a challenging task. However, Stevenson's novels hint us that
captains of pirate ships were getting a "black label" from their
crew in case they failed to implement a mission, with all subsequent
consequences.
Another indirect proof of ANC ship condition was the meeting of
the opposition Heritage party on March 2. Though the meeting did
not officially announce the alliance between the Heritage and Free
Democrats, the parties confirmed that they have reached a principle
agreement on the matter, and they just need a formal procedure which
is likely to be finalized at Free Democrats meeting on March 11. By
joining efforts with the Free Democrats, Heritage will acquire both
financial support and skilled election experts. It's worth mentioning
that 11 heads of regional offices of Ter-Petrossian's 2008 presidential
campaign are currently members of Free Democrats, including the head
of the chief office Alexander Arzumanian.
A number of pro-governmental parties and unions also organized their
meetings and rallies. The coalition party Orinats Yerkir which many
experts believe will fail at the coming elections due to lack of
popular support, held its meeting on March 3. Leaders of the party's
coalition partners, head of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia,
President Serzh Sargsyan and head of Prosperous Armenia party Gagik
Tsarukyan attended the event. As always, the meeting praised party
leader Artur Baghdasaryan who spoke for about 45 minutes, once again
voicing his loyalty to current President.
An interesting remark: following the stand-up party organized during
the meeting, the doors of the Sport Concert Complex that hosted
the event appeared to be closed. This was perhaps done to prevent
participants of the meeting driven by "support and commitment" to
the party, from escaping. This was the first time I witnessed such
a thing during a SCC-hosted event.
Pro-governmental MIAK party bringing together young liberals also
convened a meeting during the weekend. The meeting participants
voiced their support to President Serzh Sargsyan and said several
MIAK members may appear on RPA election list.
The final stroke of the week was the rally of public patriotic
organization Armenian Eagles held in Freedom Square on March 4.
Notorious leader of the party, deputy minister for sport and youth
affairs of Armenia Khachik Asryan spoke at the meeting. Claiming he is
"ready to protect the gates of hell by Serzh Sargsyan's order", Asryan
voiced his unconditional support for the current president. Quoting
numerical superiority of the rally's "eagles" over ANC supporters,
he declared that "it is Levon Ter-Petrossian's ship that sinks,
and not Serzh Sargsyan's one."
From: Baghdasarian