OPPOSITION LEADER STILL SILENT ON PARTY TURMOIL
Tatevik Lazarian
Armenialiberty.org
Sept 14 2009
Armenia — Raffi Hovannisian, leader of the opposition Zharangutyun
party.
Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian continued to avoid on Monday
any public statements on bitter infighting within his Zharangutyun
(Heritage) party that flared up a week ago following his mysterious
decision to resign his parliament seat.
Three senior Zharangutyun figures were expelled from the party ranks
on Wednesday after they accused the party’s nominal chairman, Armen
Martirosian, of foul play and secret collaboration with the Armenian
authorities. Martirosian and his allies, which dominate Zharangutyun’s
decision-making board, have rejected the accusations. They also claim
that the dissidents acted on orders issued by both the government
and the country’s largest opposition alliance led by former President
Levon Ter-Petrosian.
The turmoil broke out two days after the announcement of Hovannisian’s
decision to quit the National Assembly. Neither he, nor other party
officials have given a clear explanation for the surprise move yet. A
party spokesman said on September 7 that the Zharangutyun leader will
explain his motives in the coming days.
Hovannisian did not return to Armenia from a trip abroad as of Monday
evening, according to some individuals close to him. Just when he
will be available for comment remained unclear.
It emerged over the weekend that Hovannisian sent on Wednesday a
letter to the board members in which he is said to have expressed
dismay at the deepening rift within his party. The two rival camps
made conflicting claims about further details of the letter.
According to Zoya Tadevosian, one of the expelled board members,
the U.S.-born popular politician wrote that he is "tendering the
last resignation of my political life and leaving the party." But
Hovsep Khurshudian, the Zharangutyun spokesman allied to Martirosian,
described that as "disinformation."
"Raffi Hovannisian remains a member of Zharangutyun," Khurshudian
told RFE/RL. He at the same time refused to disclose the content of
the letter, saying that it was meant for the party leadership and is
therefore "not subject to publication."
Hovannisian, 50, relocated to Armenia from California with his family
in 1990 and served as the newly independent country’s first foreign
minister in 1992. He founded Zharangutyun in 2002 and remains its
de facto top leader despite holding no formal positions in the party
leadership at present.
Tadevosian said Hovannisian’s letter has made her and other expelled
members reconsider their initial decision to collect signatures in
support of an emergency congress of the party. She said they will
now urge supporters to leave Zharangutyun "en masse."
Tadevosian, who makes no secret of her warm rapport with
Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK), also reiterated
on Monday that she will not step down as a member of the Central
Election Commission (CEC) representing Zharangutyun. Under Armenian
law, the party is entitled to naming one member of the CEC and all
other lower-level electoral bodies by virtue of being represented in
the National Assembly. However, it can not recall and replace those
election officials at will.
"Those who will sit on district election commissions are my friends,"
claimed Tadevosian. "They are not going to obey the party called
Zharangutyun."
Khurshudian insisted, however, that most of those commission members
are loyal to the current party leadership. Stepan Safarian, another
party figure close Martirosian, said Zharangutyun will initiate legal
amendments that would enable it to sack Tadevosian.
The infighting is also likely to lose Zharangutyun two of its seven
seats in the 131-member parliament. One of the ousted dissidents,
Vartan Khachatrian, is a parliament deputy, while another, Movses
Aristakesian, is next in line for taking up the seat left vacant
by Hovannisian.