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TER-PETROSYAN'S MESSAGE: ANC NOT TO CHALLENGE EURASIAN INTEGRATION
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/52392/armenia_levon_terpetrosyan_eu_customs_union_march1 _rally
ANALYSIS | 03.03.14 | 11:29
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Armenia's former president and current leader of the opposition
Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan said at a rally
in Yerevan on March 1 that Armenia's membership in the Customs Union
is irreversible, while European integration is not possible in the
foreseeable future.
In fact, the opposition force led by Ter-Petrosyan will not
oppose the transfer of part of the sovereign rights of Armenia to
supranational bodies of the future Eurasian Union. Nor are another two
non-coalitional forces in the parliament, Prosperous Armenia Party
(PAP) and ARF Dashnaktsutyun, likely to oppose it. Ter-Petrosyan
is going to cooperate with them, especially with PAP leader Gagik
Tsarukyan, whom the ANC previously accused of being involved in
the violent dispersal of peaceful protests after the presidential
elections in 2008.
These forces, along with Heritage, which opposes Armenia's accession
to the Customs Union, as their political task see a change of power
in Armenia. However, the ANC, PAP and ARF want to do it in order to
"maximally use the opportunities of the Customs Union for the benefit
of [Armenia's] national interests, maximally excluding the negative
aspects", as Ter-Petrosyan said at the rally.
"The regime of [President] Serzh Sargsyan, first of all, lacks the
understanding of national interests to be able to fulfill such a
mission [to join the CU]. National interests and the Sargsyan regime
are incompatible concepts. The impression is that we deal with a
group of foreign invaders or robbers who have seized power by force,"
Ter-Petrosyan claimed.
Without challenging the 'general' policy of Sargsyan, the opposition
leader described the gas contracts signed by Armenia with the Russia
side as 'vassal', saying it was a mistake. He also called the debt of
$300 million to Russia accumulated on account of natural gas supplies
that resulted in the transfer of the remaining 20-percent stake in the
domestic gas distribution network to Gazprom, a 'secret state crime'.
Another criminal step by the authorities, according to Ter-Petrosyan,
is the sale of the Vorotan HPP cascade "at a reduced price, bypassing
the law and the budget." This was the last step to deprive Armenia
of its energy independence, "a crime of the century", as he put it.
At the same time, Ter-Petrosyan did not call for a revolution, on the
contrary, he said that Armenia "cannot afford a civil war'. "We are
not so many as the Egyptians and the Ukrainians, we are not a nation
that has no problem like Karabakh to afford a civil war," he said,
stressing that the ANC is for a peaceful change of power.
The leader of the ANC's faction in parliament Levon Zurabyan pointed at
the way to change the government - the main non-governing political
forces in the country - the ANC, the PAP, ARF Dashnaktsutyun and
Heritage - have created a united front against the current government.
It is not ruled out that in the same format they will raise the issue
of President Sargsyan's resignation, Zurabyan said.
From: A. Papazian
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/52392/armenia_levon_terpetrosyan_eu_customs_union_march1 _rally
ANALYSIS | 03.03.14 | 11:29
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Armenia's former president and current leader of the opposition
Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon Ter-Petrosyan said at a rally
in Yerevan on March 1 that Armenia's membership in the Customs Union
is irreversible, while European integration is not possible in the
foreseeable future.
In fact, the opposition force led by Ter-Petrosyan will not
oppose the transfer of part of the sovereign rights of Armenia to
supranational bodies of the future Eurasian Union. Nor are another two
non-coalitional forces in the parliament, Prosperous Armenia Party
(PAP) and ARF Dashnaktsutyun, likely to oppose it. Ter-Petrosyan
is going to cooperate with them, especially with PAP leader Gagik
Tsarukyan, whom the ANC previously accused of being involved in
the violent dispersal of peaceful protests after the presidential
elections in 2008.
These forces, along with Heritage, which opposes Armenia's accession
to the Customs Union, as their political task see a change of power
in Armenia. However, the ANC, PAP and ARF want to do it in order to
"maximally use the opportunities of the Customs Union for the benefit
of [Armenia's] national interests, maximally excluding the negative
aspects", as Ter-Petrosyan said at the rally.
"The regime of [President] Serzh Sargsyan, first of all, lacks the
understanding of national interests to be able to fulfill such a
mission [to join the CU]. National interests and the Sargsyan regime
are incompatible concepts. The impression is that we deal with a
group of foreign invaders or robbers who have seized power by force,"
Ter-Petrosyan claimed.
Without challenging the 'general' policy of Sargsyan, the opposition
leader described the gas contracts signed by Armenia with the Russia
side as 'vassal', saying it was a mistake. He also called the debt of
$300 million to Russia accumulated on account of natural gas supplies
that resulted in the transfer of the remaining 20-percent stake in the
domestic gas distribution network to Gazprom, a 'secret state crime'.
Another criminal step by the authorities, according to Ter-Petrosyan,
is the sale of the Vorotan HPP cascade "at a reduced price, bypassing
the law and the budget." This was the last step to deprive Armenia
of its energy independence, "a crime of the century", as he put it.
At the same time, Ter-Petrosyan did not call for a revolution, on the
contrary, he said that Armenia "cannot afford a civil war'. "We are
not so many as the Egyptians and the Ukrainians, we are not a nation
that has no problem like Karabakh to afford a civil war," he said,
stressing that the ANC is for a peaceful change of power.
The leader of the ANC's faction in parliament Levon Zurabyan pointed at
the way to change the government - the main non-governing political
forces in the country - the ANC, the PAP, ARF Dashnaktsutyun and
Heritage - have created a united front against the current government.
It is not ruled out that in the same format they will raise the issue
of President Sargsyan's resignation, Zurabyan said.
From: A. Papazian