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Rally Fallout: Ruling party members spurn opposition criticism
POLITICS | 11.10.14 | 13:51
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
RELATED NEWS
Come Back For More: Opposition leaders promise to outline further
steps at next rally
Members of the ruling party in Armenia appear to remain undaunted by
the calls for an immediate power change made at the October 10 rally
of three non-governing forces that proved the largest in years. They
also point out the lack of a coherent message from the leaders of the
opposition.
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the Armenian National Congress
(ANC) and Heritage held their joint political gathering in Yerevan's
Liberty Square Friday night after staging eight rallies in provincial
towns across Armenia as part of a two-week campaign to drum up popular
support for the event.
Representatives of four opposition parties, including the People's
Party of Armenia of Stepan Demirchyan that joined the trio, addressed
the crowd estimated at between 10,000 and 14,000.
Most speakers, including the leaders of the ANC and Heritage, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan and Raffi Hovannisian, called for a power change, but
Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the PAP that has largest parliamentary
minority faction, stopped short of such calls, saying that he would
speak at greater length at the next rally. No date for the next rally
was announced immediately.
Ruling Republican Party MP Hovhannes Sahakyan told ArmeniaNow that he
did not hear anything at the rally that could be commented on or
considered to be a policy pursuing long-term goals.
"The whole tragedy is that they work on gathering crowds, ensuring
quantity. One speaker was confused, he tried to check with his
partners what to do next, he left his speech unfinished [ed: a
reference to Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian), another said he
would speak next time [a reference to PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan], and
still another [a reference to ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan) was
talking about things he talked about in 2007-2008, in the same style,
with the same dividing lines drawn even within the opposition,
speaking about things most of which concerned his partners that are
next to him today," said Sahakyan, adding that he would like to hear
more meaningful and policy-related speeches so as to be able to have
debate and find "the golden mean" for the people.
Leader of the Republican faction in the parliament Vahram
Baghdasaryan, meanwhile, told Panorama.am that while he was not a new
person in politics, he still could not understand what the message of
the opposition was to the masses.
"When the moment comes to decide who should be the leader, there will
be a lot of noise, as there is no unity among them... And that's why
they have nothing to tell the people, which we all very clearly saw
yesterday," Baghdasaryan commented.
Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute director, political analyst Sergey
Minasyan told ArmeniaNow that he did not see any new step at the
October 10 rally and that it was like a political déjà vu.
"Perhaps after a big pause it was a rally that stood out, but,
unfortunately, most of its participants were residents of the Kotayk
province. And this, unfortunately, shows that it is not some new
political stage, but that the approaches of the opposition are not
that strong, because if you gather a 15,000-strong rally and more than
half of the people are from a specific region, it raises questions,"
the analyst said.
PAP leader Tsarukyan enjoys great popularity in Kotayk, which is the
fourth most populous province of Armenia with its population estimated
at over 250,000. But the Armenian opposition says it has supporters in
all regions of the country.
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/57538/armenia_opposition_rally_reactions
POLITICS | 11.10.14 | 13:51
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
RELATED NEWS
Come Back For More: Opposition leaders promise to outline further
steps at next rally
Members of the ruling party in Armenia appear to remain undaunted by
the calls for an immediate power change made at the October 10 rally
of three non-governing forces that proved the largest in years. They
also point out the lack of a coherent message from the leaders of the
opposition.
The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the Armenian National Congress
(ANC) and Heritage held their joint political gathering in Yerevan's
Liberty Square Friday night after staging eight rallies in provincial
towns across Armenia as part of a two-week campaign to drum up popular
support for the event.
Representatives of four opposition parties, including the People's
Party of Armenia of Stepan Demirchyan that joined the trio, addressed
the crowd estimated at between 10,000 and 14,000.
Most speakers, including the leaders of the ANC and Heritage, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan and Raffi Hovannisian, called for a power change, but
Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the PAP that has largest parliamentary
minority faction, stopped short of such calls, saying that he would
speak at greater length at the next rally. No date for the next rally
was announced immediately.
Ruling Republican Party MP Hovhannes Sahakyan told ArmeniaNow that he
did not hear anything at the rally that could be commented on or
considered to be a policy pursuing long-term goals.
"The whole tragedy is that they work on gathering crowds, ensuring
quantity. One speaker was confused, he tried to check with his
partners what to do next, he left his speech unfinished [ed: a
reference to Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian), another said he
would speak next time [a reference to PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan], and
still another [a reference to ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan) was
talking about things he talked about in 2007-2008, in the same style,
with the same dividing lines drawn even within the opposition,
speaking about things most of which concerned his partners that are
next to him today," said Sahakyan, adding that he would like to hear
more meaningful and policy-related speeches so as to be able to have
debate and find "the golden mean" for the people.
Leader of the Republican faction in the parliament Vahram
Baghdasaryan, meanwhile, told Panorama.am that while he was not a new
person in politics, he still could not understand what the message of
the opposition was to the masses.
"When the moment comes to decide who should be the leader, there will
be a lot of noise, as there is no unity among them... And that's why
they have nothing to tell the people, which we all very clearly saw
yesterday," Baghdasaryan commented.
Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute director, political analyst Sergey
Minasyan told ArmeniaNow that he did not see any new step at the
October 10 rally and that it was like a political déjà vu.
"Perhaps after a big pause it was a rally that stood out, but,
unfortunately, most of its participants were residents of the Kotayk
province. And this, unfortunately, shows that it is not some new
political stage, but that the approaches of the opposition are not
that strong, because if you gather a 15,000-strong rally and more than
half of the people are from a specific region, it raises questions,"
the analyst said.
PAP leader Tsarukyan enjoys great popularity in Kotayk, which is the
fourth most populous province of Armenia with its population estimated
at over 250,000. But the Armenian opposition says it has supporters in
all regions of the country.
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/57538/armenia_opposition_rally_reactions