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Tsarukian Urges Regime Change as Tensions Escalate

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  • Tsarukian Urges Regime Change as Tensions Escalate

    Tsarukian Urges Regime Change as Tensions Escalate

    Friday, February 13th, 2015


    Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian
    ARF Calls for Calm and National Unity

    BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN


    YEREVAN--The war of words escalated in Armenia Friday as two one-time
    allies, President Serzh Sarkisian and the Prosperous Armenia Party
    leader Gagik Tsarukian, publicly attacked each other with the latter
    calling for immediate regime change after the president lashed out on
    Thursday and relieved Tsarukian from his post in the National Security
    Council.

    Responding to the president's unusual remarks during the Republican
    Party of Armenia's executive council session on Thursday, during which
    Sarkisian called Tsarukian's political activities a "circus," calling
    him ignorant and incapable of leading, the Prosperous Armenia Party's
    leader called on the citizens of Armenia to mobilize and take to the
    streets and change the current regime through early presidential
    elections.

    "I am taking up the gauntlet and am going to fight till the victory,"
    said Tsarukian at an emergency meeting with senior PAP officials. "A
    new situation has surfaced since yesterday and it requires a solution.
    I believe that the only solution is a complete regime change through
    early presidential elections,"

    Tsarukian said that his remarks were directed at the people of Armenia
    and not at one individual. This was in contrast to Sarkisian's
    statements Thursday, where he claimed that his remarks were directed
    at one person: "a pseudo-political phenomenon called Gagik Tsarukian."

    The apparent war declared by the two powerful political figures in
    Armenia has escalated the political turmoil and threatens the fragile
    domestic situation in the country, which continues to be threatened by
    attack from Azerbaijan and aggravated tensions along the border.

    In his remarks, Sarkisian leveraged his executive powers to direct
    various state institutions to investigate alleged tax evasion and
    criminal conduct by Tsarukian. In his turn, Tsarukian welcomed the
    investigation and said he would expose the Sarkisian regime's actions,
    which have resulted in the growth of Armenia's foreign debt and has
    forced Armenian citizens to abandon their homeland. He also accused
    Sarkisian and his supporters of stealing "billions of dollars" from
    the people

    What sparked this tension was Tsarukian's remarks last week at a
    conference of non-ruling party members where he called for regime
    change and accused Sarkisian of using the upcoming Constitutional
    reforms as mechanism to continue his rule and ensure that his party
    remains in power. Earlier this week, Artak Khachatrian, a member of
    parliament from Tsarukian's Prosperous Armenia Party was beaten,
    kidnapped and then dumped on the street. PAP officials accused the
    government of staging the attack.

    In his remarks Friday, Tsarukian alleged that Sarkisian had offered
    him the ceremonial presidency envisioned under the new constitution in
    return for his and his party's support of the reforms being advanced
    by the regime. Tsarukian said that he "categorically" rejected the
    president's "anti-state" proposal reiterating his claim that the
    reform process was a means for the authorities to remain in power.

    Following his statement, Tsarukian, who did not specify a date for a
    public rally, met with former president Levon Ter-Petrosian and the
    leader of the Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian to discuss next steps
    in their campaign to overthrow the regime.

    Meanwhile, speaking with Yerkir.am Friday, the political
    representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau Armen
    Rustamian warned that the recent political tensions have entered a new
    and dangerous stage and called for national unity in the face of
    growing tension on Armenia's borders and the upcoming centennial of
    the Armenian Genocide.

    "The growing political debate is entering a new stage of heightened
    intolerance, personal attacks, and dangerous confrontations. This
    greatly undermines the security of both the country and its people,"
    said Rustamian.

    He went on to say that the recent statements of both the Prosperous
    Armenia Party and the Republican Party confirm the ARF's grave
    concerns about the political landscape of the country. He stressed
    that the separation of business and politics and the proper
    implementation of the rule of law are necessary in the social and
    political life of Armenia.

    "In these difficult and dangerous times full of both internal and
    external challenges, socio-economic problems and a tense border
    situation, each of us has the responsibility to approach these issues
    in a sober, mutually tolerant, and highly political manner. Today,
    when our borders are under constant enemy attack and we as a nation
    prepare to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, we are
    all required to show the world that we are united as a people. We [the
    ARF-D] are convinced that the present tensions and conflict are not in
    the best interest of our state and nation. We instead call for wisdom,
    calm and unity," concluded Rustamian.

    This quickly unfolding scenario in Armenia threatens the tenuous calm
    in the country. Neither Sarkisian nor Tsarukian have the right to
    speak about the other's amassed wealth, because both men, who not long
    ago drank from the same cup, have leveraged their vast resources to
    "win" elections and both are responsible for the dire socio-economic
    situation that is dragging the people of Armenia to ruin.

    Rustamian's call for calm and national unity is prudent and welcome.
    The ruling regime and the president must understand that they cannot
    intimidate factions or individuals who are in opposition. At the same
    time, opposition forces that are seeking change and often speak in the
    name of Armenia's population, must abandon the tired rhetoric of
    demanding regime change and actually put forth viable alternatives
    that clearly outline their vision for change and set them apart from
    that of the regime they want to topple.

    In the end, the people of Armenia remain the victims of this ongoing
    power plays. Sarkisian and Tsarukian publically calling each other
    thieves is not going to provide relief to the lay Armenian citizen who
    long ago has lost hope for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
    that the current Constitution of Armenia claims to guarantee.


    http://asbarez.com/131806/tsarukian-urges-regime-change-as-tensions-escalate/

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