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Opposing The Troika: Three Non-Governing Parties Criticized By Rulin

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  • Opposing The Troika: Three Non-Governing Parties Criticized By Rulin

    OPPOSING THE TROIKA: THREE NON-GOVERNING PARTIES CRITICIZED BY RULING PARTY MEMBERS, OUTSIDERS

    POLITICS | 14.10.14 | 12:45
    http://armenianow.com/news/politics/57593/armenia_opposition_rally_troika

    By SARA KHOJOYAN
    ArmeniaNow reporter

    While the three non-governing parliamentary parties are preparing for
    their second autumn rally, the Civil Contract public-political union
    considers their tactic unacceptable. The group led by outspoken
    oppositionist Nikol Pashinyan has spoken out against both the
    government and the troika of opposition forces, speaking in favor of
    forming a "public agenda".

    Since in their public statements representatives of the ruling
    Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) have so far ruled out that the
    government would conduct negotiations with the non-governing forces,
    political analysts have different assessments as to how effective
    the troika's process on "power change" will be.

    On Monday, the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), the Armenian National
    Congress (ANC) and Heritage announced their decision to schedule
    the next rally for October 24. They did not say when they'd hold
    their next gathering at the Friday rally in Yerevan that attracted
    thousands of people.

    It is remarkable that ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan described the
    "Now", "Now" calls for immediate action heard from the crowd of
    supporters in Liberty Square on October 10 as "wrong" and urged
    supporters to obey the decisions and the timetable of action of
    the leaders of the struggle. At the same time, he said that fresh
    parliamentary and presidential elections were needed to save the
    country from a disaster.

    "Our plans and objectives are clear, so proposals on dialogue and
    compromise solutions should come from the government. If these
    proposals are reasonable, it is possible that we will meet them
    halfway," Ter-Petrosyan said in his speech.

    Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan, who represents the RPA,
    on Monday said there was no need for negotiations with the troika.

    "We need to understand what to offer - whether they want posts, so
    we can give them posts, or they want a coalition so that we offer
    them to form a coalition. What is it that they propose? Can anyone
    formulate that?" Sahakyan challenged reporters during a press briefing
    in Tsaghkadzor.

    Meanwhile, Pashinyan, who fell out with Ter-Petrosyan in 2012 over
    the latter's decision to engage in cooperation with the PAP, believes
    that what the troika proposes is a power-sharing deal, something that
    he said disregards the people's opinion.

    "They choose a tactic that rules out that someone else makes moves
    in the political field. Thus, they keep the entire field," Pashinyan
    said at a press conference on Monday.

    Still, the troika appears to continue to remain the key format that
    keeps up people's opposition sentiments. According to political
    analyst Armen Grigoryan, the three forces combine large capital and
    public support.

    "A rally that gathers 40,000 people during a non-electoral stage shows
    that they are very strong," Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow, stressing that
    the process is the only hope for people who want to see changes.

    (Other observers estimated the turnout at the October 10 rally at
    between 10,000 to 15,000 people).

    "One of the most important things [for the opposition] is to
    ensure that the constitutional amendments are not passed, because
    constitutional amendments are the greatest threat to political
    parties. Everyone understands that if it happens, [President] Serzh
    Sargsyan will rule for his lifetime in Armenia, and that's why it
    becomes the most important political factor," said the political
    analyst.

    However, according to expert on political and electoral technologies
    Armen Badalyan, in Armenia the potential of political forces is not
    as important as the potential of society.

    "There were 40,000-45,000 people at the Friday rally, but if we compare
    that to the number of people who live in poor conditions and seek
    justice in Armenia, it appears to be a very low figure. If half of
    the workers of Armenian markets came, if half of those who complain
    about the red-line parking rules came, there would have been four or
    five times more people," Badalyan told ArmeniaNow.

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