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PROSPEROUS ARMENIA: REALITY OR PHANTOM?
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 17 2015
17 February 2015 - 4:17pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The internal political tensions in Armenia are considered by many
experts to be a war between the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
and the opposition party Prosperous Armenia. Relations between RPA and
PA began to worsen after a conference of non-ruling political forces
and organizations on February 5th, which was initiated by PA. The
leader of PA, businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, heavily criticized the
policy followed by the authorities. He pointed out the need to form
new power structures involving educated, intelligent people. He also
touched on the issue of early presidential and parliamentary elections.
A few days later, President Serge Sargsyan publicly expressed his
doubts about Tsarukyan's ability to be a politician. The President
actually ordered an attack on PA and its leader when he pointed
out the frequent absences of MP Tsarukyan from sessions of the
National Assembly and voiced rumors about "hiding a billion drams
of unpaid taxes." The bureaucratic machine and official propaganda
enthusiastically began to fulfil the order of the President. Tsarukyan
addressed the population to consolidate social efforts and achieve
the resignation of Sargsyan by all legal political means.
The main players in the political war are not only Sargsyan and
Tsarukyan, but also the first and the second presidents, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan. Some experts think that the main
political struggle is taking place between Sargsyan and the initiator
of PA, Robert Kocharyan, who has never left politics after the end of
his presidency in 2008. His activity is aimed at a return to power
and becoming the prime minister. Statements about the influence on
political processes by the second president and his contacts with PA
and its leaders, have become frequent. Moreover, members of RPA and
some mass media raise the question of Kocharyan's responsibility for
the activities of PA's leader.
"We all know who created Tsarukyan. They should be responsible and
apologize for the evil which they have brought to our political life.
Everybody knows that Robert Kocharyan is an author of the PA project,"
Armen Ashotyan, the deputy chairman of RPA, said. The number of
articles published in the pro-government press that Kocharyan stands
behind Tsarukyan is increasing significantly.
What is going on in the political space in reality? Is the second
president connected with PA? And what is his influence on the party
and its leader Gagik Tsarukyan?
It is true that PA, which was founded 10 years ago, was a political
project of Kocharyan, who ordered that Tsarukyan fulfil the project.
Apparently, the political party had to become an alternative to RPA
inside the ruling forces. PA began to be formed in 2006. It was planned
that in the parliamentary elections 2007 it should have gained a great
number of votes and many seats, so that Kocharyan could become prime
minister after the end of his presidency in 2008.
However, unexpected events happened in the elections of 2007. First of
all, RPA won decisively. Even though PA got many seats, it couldn't
become an alternative to RPA. The authorities decided that PA would
join the coalition with RPA.
Why did the well-planned scheme go wrong? In 2005-2006 the PA project
had only started, and the head of RPA was the late premier Andranik
Margaryan. And ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2007, RPA was
headed by prime minister Serge Sargsyan. Margaryan and Sargsyan had
different weights and power in the political space.
However, it was not only the results of the elections that negatively
influenced Kocharyan's plans. In autumn 2007, ahead of the presidential
elections, the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan appeared on the
political field. He managed to raise a wave of social protest. The
conflict between the authorities and society and the opposition,
which stood against the results of the presidential elections in
February 2008, led to the shootings at a peaceful demonstration on
March 1st. Due to the tense situation in the country, Kocharyan's
plans for a change of power didn't come true. He didn't become the
prime minister, and the project failed. PA had to stay in the ruling
coalition, but it wasn't Kocharyan's party anymore. Its real leader
was Tsarukyan.
In time, confrontations between Tsarukyan and the authorities appeared
due to economic issues. Moreover, Tsarukyan has a conflict with
his business partner, the brother of President Sargsyan, Alexander
Sargsyan. Obviously, this influenced his relations with the President.
As a result, PA began to distance itself from the authorities. In
2012 the party decided to participate in the parliamentary elections
independently and rejected joining the ruling coalition after the
elections. These steps contributed to establishing PA as an independent
political force.
The question is whether Kocharyan influences PA at the moment. The
failure of the political plans of the former president led to a
situation in which he had no real leverages of influence on the party.
However, PA includes several MPs who are traditionally thought to be
Kocharyan's people. This means only a restricted level of influence
on PA and the processes over it by the former president.
At the same time, the second president has personal political interests
and ambitions. His interests could coincide with the interests of
PA in some aspects (for instance, they don't accept constitutional
changes). However, it doesn't mean Kocharyan coordinates PA's activity.
It seems that the pro-government press ties PA with the unpopular
second president to decrease the rating of PA and its leader. Such
a situation would be beneficial for the authorities. However,
representatives of the ruling party and some mass media mistake the
wish for the reality.
It is interesting to remember that the Communist Party imposed on
the people of the USSR that it was the party of Lenin, while the
October Revolution of 1917 was led by Bolsheviks. But that was the
party of Lenin and Trotsky, and the revolution was organized by not
only Bolsheviks, but also the leftist Socialist-Revolutionaries. As
the Bolsheviks wrote the right history, Trotsky turned into an enemy,
and the leftist Socialist-Revolutionaries disappeared from the history
of the revolution completely. Today in Armenia, the authorities want
society to consider the events according to the authorities' interests.
The same media wrote three years ago that PA would join the ruling
coalition soon. However, repeating an idea doesn't make it real. The
reality is that Tsarukyan attracts tens of thousands of people to
his demonstrations. People don't believe the authorities or official
propaganda. And PA is drifting from the moderate to the radical
opposition.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/66491.html
From: Baghdasarian
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 17 2015
17 February 2015 - 4:17pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The internal political tensions in Armenia are considered by many
experts to be a war between the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
and the opposition party Prosperous Armenia. Relations between RPA and
PA began to worsen after a conference of non-ruling political forces
and organizations on February 5th, which was initiated by PA. The
leader of PA, businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, heavily criticized the
policy followed by the authorities. He pointed out the need to form
new power structures involving educated, intelligent people. He also
touched on the issue of early presidential and parliamentary elections.
A few days later, President Serge Sargsyan publicly expressed his
doubts about Tsarukyan's ability to be a politician. The President
actually ordered an attack on PA and its leader when he pointed
out the frequent absences of MP Tsarukyan from sessions of the
National Assembly and voiced rumors about "hiding a billion drams
of unpaid taxes." The bureaucratic machine and official propaganda
enthusiastically began to fulfil the order of the President. Tsarukyan
addressed the population to consolidate social efforts and achieve
the resignation of Sargsyan by all legal political means.
The main players in the political war are not only Sargsyan and
Tsarukyan, but also the first and the second presidents, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan. Some experts think that the main
political struggle is taking place between Sargsyan and the initiator
of PA, Robert Kocharyan, who has never left politics after the end of
his presidency in 2008. His activity is aimed at a return to power
and becoming the prime minister. Statements about the influence on
political processes by the second president and his contacts with PA
and its leaders, have become frequent. Moreover, members of RPA and
some mass media raise the question of Kocharyan's responsibility for
the activities of PA's leader.
"We all know who created Tsarukyan. They should be responsible and
apologize for the evil which they have brought to our political life.
Everybody knows that Robert Kocharyan is an author of the PA project,"
Armen Ashotyan, the deputy chairman of RPA, said. The number of
articles published in the pro-government press that Kocharyan stands
behind Tsarukyan is increasing significantly.
What is going on in the political space in reality? Is the second
president connected with PA? And what is his influence on the party
and its leader Gagik Tsarukyan?
It is true that PA, which was founded 10 years ago, was a political
project of Kocharyan, who ordered that Tsarukyan fulfil the project.
Apparently, the political party had to become an alternative to RPA
inside the ruling forces. PA began to be formed in 2006. It was planned
that in the parliamentary elections 2007 it should have gained a great
number of votes and many seats, so that Kocharyan could become prime
minister after the end of his presidency in 2008.
However, unexpected events happened in the elections of 2007. First of
all, RPA won decisively. Even though PA got many seats, it couldn't
become an alternative to RPA. The authorities decided that PA would
join the coalition with RPA.
Why did the well-planned scheme go wrong? In 2005-2006 the PA project
had only started, and the head of RPA was the late premier Andranik
Margaryan. And ahead of the parliamentary elections in 2007, RPA was
headed by prime minister Serge Sargsyan. Margaryan and Sargsyan had
different weights and power in the political space.
However, it was not only the results of the elections that negatively
influenced Kocharyan's plans. In autumn 2007, ahead of the presidential
elections, the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan appeared on the
political field. He managed to raise a wave of social protest. The
conflict between the authorities and society and the opposition,
which stood against the results of the presidential elections in
February 2008, led to the shootings at a peaceful demonstration on
March 1st. Due to the tense situation in the country, Kocharyan's
plans for a change of power didn't come true. He didn't become the
prime minister, and the project failed. PA had to stay in the ruling
coalition, but it wasn't Kocharyan's party anymore. Its real leader
was Tsarukyan.
In time, confrontations between Tsarukyan and the authorities appeared
due to economic issues. Moreover, Tsarukyan has a conflict with
his business partner, the brother of President Sargsyan, Alexander
Sargsyan. Obviously, this influenced his relations with the President.
As a result, PA began to distance itself from the authorities. In
2012 the party decided to participate in the parliamentary elections
independently and rejected joining the ruling coalition after the
elections. These steps contributed to establishing PA as an independent
political force.
The question is whether Kocharyan influences PA at the moment. The
failure of the political plans of the former president led to a
situation in which he had no real leverages of influence on the party.
However, PA includes several MPs who are traditionally thought to be
Kocharyan's people. This means only a restricted level of influence
on PA and the processes over it by the former president.
At the same time, the second president has personal political interests
and ambitions. His interests could coincide with the interests of
PA in some aspects (for instance, they don't accept constitutional
changes). However, it doesn't mean Kocharyan coordinates PA's activity.
It seems that the pro-government press ties PA with the unpopular
second president to decrease the rating of PA and its leader. Such
a situation would be beneficial for the authorities. However,
representatives of the ruling party and some mass media mistake the
wish for the reality.
It is interesting to remember that the Communist Party imposed on
the people of the USSR that it was the party of Lenin, while the
October Revolution of 1917 was led by Bolsheviks. But that was the
party of Lenin and Trotsky, and the revolution was organized by not
only Bolsheviks, but also the leftist Socialist-Revolutionaries. As
the Bolsheviks wrote the right history, Trotsky turned into an enemy,
and the leftist Socialist-Revolutionaries disappeared from the history
of the revolution completely. Today in Armenia, the authorities want
society to consider the events according to the authorities' interests.
The same media wrote three years ago that PA would join the ruling
coalition soon. However, repeating an idea doesn't make it real. The
reality is that Tsarukyan attracts tens of thousands of people to
his demonstrations. People don't believe the authorities or official
propaganda. And PA is drifting from the moderate to the radical
opposition.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/66491.html
From: Baghdasarian