RPA SHOULD BE THANKFUL TO TER-PETROSYAN AND TSARUKYAN
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
10:50 26/12/2012
RPA Spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov stated that Ter-Petrosyan’s decision
not to run for president was not unexpected, while his age was just
an excuse since the ANC leader had decided to retire from politics
much earlier.
The Republicans are, of course, very happy with Ter-Petrosyan’s
decision. Even though Republicans state that no one can compete with
Serzh Sargsyan and that there are no alternatives to their candidate,
they understand that the problem is the force majeure.
By withdrawing Ter-Petrosyan refused to keep the way open for a force
majeure which could be a provocation. Serzh Sargsyan would officially
win anyway but it would be difficult to predict the strength of
Russia’s “blow” to his “legitimacy”.
Gagik Tsarukyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan refused to be the force of
that “blow”. It is not ruled out that if they had guarantees of coming
to power in the result of the blow, they would have agreed. But they
did not so they reduced or eliminated the risk of a new bloodshed.
The Republicans are happy because 1 March 2008 events are still fresh
when everyone was waiting at home to see when and how the situation
would end and when Robert Kocharyan would use force to free everyone
of that difficult and painful waiting.
Republicans were worried about the possible recurrence of those
events. Moreover, the statements that Serzh Sargsyan has no opponents
were the result of fear of Republicans.
Republicans should not treat Ter-Petrosyan’s decision with sarcasm
but thank him sincerely for dispelling their fears because few of
them would survive another March 1.
On the other hand, it is difficult to say if the RPA has reasons to
be afraid in general. Armenia is in such a period when the RPA should
be in a global fear.
The issue is not only the fact that despite the devastation of the
opposition, the society is understanding and evaluating a lot of
phenomena, values and approaches, which will lead to a new movement
clearing the field from destructive idolatry.
What is expected in government before 2018 is also an issue for the
Republicans. Despite transformations and search in the society, the
fight for power is inevitable, which means that the government will
also face difficult expectations and bias. It is hard to say which
of the two “waitings” will be more difficult for the Republicans with
so quickly consumed resources.