Tweet
ELECTION 2013: OSKANIAN HINTS HE WON'T RUN FOR PRESIDENT, PLEDGES SUPPORT TO "CONSOLIDATING" CANDIDATE
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow
NEWS | 21.11.12 | 13:04
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) seems to be close to determining
its format of participation in the upcoming presidential election. PAP
lawmaker Vartan Oskanian has posted a note on his Facebook account in
which he effectively rules out his presidential bid in February 2013.
He also says that members of his party, with whom he met in recent
days, unequivocally speak in favor of nominating PAP leader Gagik
Tsarukyan.
"Despite the fact that it was at the suggestion of Tsarukyan that my
candidacy was discussed, the party members have spoken in favor of
nominating Tsarukyan himself," wrote the former foreign minister, who
is now under prosecution for alleged money laundering - a charge that
Oskanian himself, his party and a considerable number of oppositionists
and human rights activists consider as "political".
Still, Oskanian stopped short of unequivocally stating about
Tsarukyan's nomination.
"Tsarukyan really enjoys great authority. At the same time, the people
and political forces need consolidation and through the development of
a systemic reform agenda and, why not, the nomination of a single
candidate, they want to take the country out of the difficult
situation," he said.
Thus, Oskanian hinted that someone else might be nominated as a single
candidate to "consolidate the political forces" or, maybe, no one
will be nominated at all. So, the situation gets even more confusing.
Essentially, it means that political forces are intent on keeping the
suspense till the very last moment when the public will be confronted
with a fait accompli - a deal or confrontation.
It is possible that in the end political forces will come to an
agreement with incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan and will support his
candidacy if he agrees to the agenda put forward by the broad-based
opposition. This agenda is already being formed, and if anyone,
the same Serzh Sargsyan, states his readiness to carry it out, the
opposition will have no reason to field its own candidate. Apparently,
the opposition itself has little doubts that Sargsyan will register
a victory in the February vote.
Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, expert on the South Caucasus
Thomas de Waal, too, believes that nothing unexpected will happen
in the upcoming elections in Armenia and President Sargsyan will be
re-elected for a second term in office. De Waal thinks that Sargsyan
has no serious rival similar to Bidzina Ivanishvili who led the
opposition to victory in neighboring Georgia last month.
As for Tsarukyan, who is widely seen as the main potential rival of
Sargsyan in the upcoming ballot, de Waal still does not see him as
being "at the same level as Ivanishvili before the election."
Today, the Armenian parliament was to gather for a special meeting
at the initiative of the opposition Armenian National Congress to
discuss some proposed reform to election laws. But the meeting failed
because of the boycott of the ruling Republican Party as no quorum was
ensured. But even this failed meeting could become a good platform in
itself for the opposition parties and forces to discuss the overall
agenda and the possibility of fielding a single candidate.
From: Baghdasarian
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow
NEWS | 21.11.12 | 13:04
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) seems to be close to determining
its format of participation in the upcoming presidential election. PAP
lawmaker Vartan Oskanian has posted a note on his Facebook account in
which he effectively rules out his presidential bid in February 2013.
He also says that members of his party, with whom he met in recent
days, unequivocally speak in favor of nominating PAP leader Gagik
Tsarukyan.
"Despite the fact that it was at the suggestion of Tsarukyan that my
candidacy was discussed, the party members have spoken in favor of
nominating Tsarukyan himself," wrote the former foreign minister, who
is now under prosecution for alleged money laundering - a charge that
Oskanian himself, his party and a considerable number of oppositionists
and human rights activists consider as "political".
Still, Oskanian stopped short of unequivocally stating about
Tsarukyan's nomination.
"Tsarukyan really enjoys great authority. At the same time, the people
and political forces need consolidation and through the development of
a systemic reform agenda and, why not, the nomination of a single
candidate, they want to take the country out of the difficult
situation," he said.
Thus, Oskanian hinted that someone else might be nominated as a single
candidate to "consolidate the political forces" or, maybe, no one
will be nominated at all. So, the situation gets even more confusing.
Essentially, it means that political forces are intent on keeping the
suspense till the very last moment when the public will be confronted
with a fait accompli - a deal or confrontation.
It is possible that in the end political forces will come to an
agreement with incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan and will support his
candidacy if he agrees to the agenda put forward by the broad-based
opposition. This agenda is already being formed, and if anyone,
the same Serzh Sargsyan, states his readiness to carry it out, the
opposition will have no reason to field its own candidate. Apparently,
the opposition itself has little doubts that Sargsyan will register
a victory in the February vote.
Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, expert on the South Caucasus
Thomas de Waal, too, believes that nothing unexpected will happen
in the upcoming elections in Armenia and President Sargsyan will be
re-elected for a second term in office. De Waal thinks that Sargsyan
has no serious rival similar to Bidzina Ivanishvili who led the
opposition to victory in neighboring Georgia last month.
As for Tsarukyan, who is widely seen as the main potential rival of
Sargsyan in the upcoming ballot, de Waal still does not see him as
being "at the same level as Ivanishvili before the election."
Today, the Armenian parliament was to gather for a special meeting
at the initiative of the opposition Armenian National Congress to
discuss some proposed reform to election laws. But the meeting failed
because of the boycott of the ruling Republican Party as no quorum was
ensured. But even this failed meeting could become a good platform in
itself for the opposition parties and forces to discuss the overall
agenda and the possibility of fielding a single candidate.
From: Baghdasarian