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VOTE 2013: TSARUKYAN MEETING WITH WESTERN DIPLOMATS SEEN AS PART OF ELECTION PREPARATIONS
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
18.10.12 | 10:16
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) has not disclosed details of a
meeting that recently took place between its leader Gagik Tsarukyan and
a number of diplomats accredited in Yerevan as well as representatives
of international organizations.
Tsarukyan's spokesperson Iveta Tonoyan only said that after a
reception held on Tuesday on the occasion of the 135th anniversary
of the Ararat brandy factory the PAP leader and certain ambassadors
met "behind closed doors". She neither confirmed nor denied that the
meeting discussed the issue of Vartan Oskanian, a PAP lawmaker and
former Minister of Foreign Affairs who was recently stripped of his
parliamentary immunity to be prosecuted for alleged money laundering.
Earlier this month Tsarukyan held a separate meeting with United
States Ambassador John Heffern. Some details of that meeting were not
kept secret, however, and the U.S. envoy shortly expressed his fresh
concern over the Oskanian case, saying that it "appears to represent
a selective application of Armenian law."
"Moreover, the timing of these events in relation to the election
schedule is troubling," Heffern said through an online video blog
entry on October 10.
The statement by Heffern did not go down well with Armenia's ruling
Republican Party, whose spokesman hinted that it might be an instance
of meddling in the nation's domestic affairs. The Republicans have
not officially reacted yet to the reported meeting between Tsarukyan
and Western diplomats, perhaps also due to the absence of public
statements after it.
Meanwhile, political and election technologies expert Armen Badalyan
regards the latest meeting between the PAP leader and Western diplomats
within the context of the upcoming presidential elections.
He says the Western powers, whose influence in Armenia will be greater
as compared to the previous elections, are trying to influence the
position of one of Armenia's influential political parties from a
number of aspects.
"The West cannot remain indifferent to the PAP circumstance and
avoiding discussing quite a few issues with it, especially that
the second candidate on the PAP's election list [at last May's
parliamentary elections] is a politician who does not rule out
his running for president at the next election," the expert told
ArmeniaNow.
"This is, of course, up to the PAP to decide, but it certainly cannot
leave the Western diplomats indifferent as they have quite a lot
of questions to specify in advance. In particular, what attitude
the PAP has towards the European Union, Armenia-NATO, Armenia-EU,
Armenia-Russian relations, the Karabakh issue. I suppose they could
also discuss whether the PAP would or would not support the incumbent
president during the next election."
In Badalyan's opinion, the West has not yet clarified its "stake"
in the February presidential election in Armenia.
"Just like Russia, the West, too, is capable of having significant
influence on the outcome of the presidential election in Armenia. They
can simply designate a president, of course, keeping the formal
voting part by the public in place. And it is not ruled out that
the West may decide to replace Serzh Sargsyan with Vartan Oskanian,
as the current president has not introduced any Western value system
factor in Armenia, he has failed to provide a liberal economic field
or liberalize television channels, he hasn't fought against corruption,
etc.," said Badalyan.
In a recent media interview Oskanian said he believed the PAP should
contest the next presidential election with its own candidate and did
not rule out that he might be such a candidate if Tsarukyan decided
he did not want to run for president himself.
Until today Tsarukyan has not clarified his position regarding whether
he will support President Sargsyan's reelection bid, as he pledged
to do in a coalition memorandum in February 2011, or will prefer his
party's fielding its own candidate.
Citing its sources, the Yerevan-based daily, 168 Zham, writes that at
a recent meeting with top party representatives Tsarukyan excluded
that the PAP could nominate Oskanian as a candidate in the 2013
presidential election. According to the newspaper, Tsarukyan said
that if the party nominated a candidate that could only be he himself.
Analysts, however, consider it unlikely that the millionaire
businessman will eventually decide to join the fray.
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
18.10.12 | 10:16
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) has not disclosed details of a
meeting that recently took place between its leader Gagik Tsarukyan and
a number of diplomats accredited in Yerevan as well as representatives
of international organizations.
Tsarukyan's spokesperson Iveta Tonoyan only said that after a
reception held on Tuesday on the occasion of the 135th anniversary
of the Ararat brandy factory the PAP leader and certain ambassadors
met "behind closed doors". She neither confirmed nor denied that the
meeting discussed the issue of Vartan Oskanian, a PAP lawmaker and
former Minister of Foreign Affairs who was recently stripped of his
parliamentary immunity to be prosecuted for alleged money laundering.
Earlier this month Tsarukyan held a separate meeting with United
States Ambassador John Heffern. Some details of that meeting were not
kept secret, however, and the U.S. envoy shortly expressed his fresh
concern over the Oskanian case, saying that it "appears to represent
a selective application of Armenian law."
"Moreover, the timing of these events in relation to the election
schedule is troubling," Heffern said through an online video blog
entry on October 10.
The statement by Heffern did not go down well with Armenia's ruling
Republican Party, whose spokesman hinted that it might be an instance
of meddling in the nation's domestic affairs. The Republicans have
not officially reacted yet to the reported meeting between Tsarukyan
and Western diplomats, perhaps also due to the absence of public
statements after it.
Meanwhile, political and election technologies expert Armen Badalyan
regards the latest meeting between the PAP leader and Western diplomats
within the context of the upcoming presidential elections.
He says the Western powers, whose influence in Armenia will be greater
as compared to the previous elections, are trying to influence the
position of one of Armenia's influential political parties from a
number of aspects.
"The West cannot remain indifferent to the PAP circumstance and
avoiding discussing quite a few issues with it, especially that
the second candidate on the PAP's election list [at last May's
parliamentary elections] is a politician who does not rule out
his running for president at the next election," the expert told
ArmeniaNow.
"This is, of course, up to the PAP to decide, but it certainly cannot
leave the Western diplomats indifferent as they have quite a lot
of questions to specify in advance. In particular, what attitude
the PAP has towards the European Union, Armenia-NATO, Armenia-EU,
Armenia-Russian relations, the Karabakh issue. I suppose they could
also discuss whether the PAP would or would not support the incumbent
president during the next election."
In Badalyan's opinion, the West has not yet clarified its "stake"
in the February presidential election in Armenia.
"Just like Russia, the West, too, is capable of having significant
influence on the outcome of the presidential election in Armenia. They
can simply designate a president, of course, keeping the formal
voting part by the public in place. And it is not ruled out that
the West may decide to replace Serzh Sargsyan with Vartan Oskanian,
as the current president has not introduced any Western value system
factor in Armenia, he has failed to provide a liberal economic field
or liberalize television channels, he hasn't fought against corruption,
etc.," said Badalyan.
In a recent media interview Oskanian said he believed the PAP should
contest the next presidential election with its own candidate and did
not rule out that he might be such a candidate if Tsarukyan decided
he did not want to run for president himself.
Until today Tsarukyan has not clarified his position regarding whether
he will support President Sargsyan's reelection bid, as he pledged
to do in a coalition memorandum in February 2011, or will prefer his
party's fielding its own candidate.
Citing its sources, the Yerevan-based daily, 168 Zham, writes that at
a recent meeting with top party representatives Tsarukyan excluded
that the PAP could nominate Oskanian as a candidate in the 2013
presidential election. According to the newspaper, Tsarukyan said
that if the party nominated a candidate that could only be he himself.
Analysts, however, consider it unlikely that the millionaire
businessman will eventually decide to join the fray.