Armenian Oppositionist Says Negotiations With Authorities Impossible

ARMENIAN OPPOSITIONIST SAYS NEGOTIATIONS WITH AUTHORITIES IMPOSSIBLE

10:59 25.07.13

The leader of the Social-Democrat Hnchakyan party is skeptical about
the Heritage party’s proposal on organizing a pan-Armenian round
table discussion in September.

Lyudmila Sargsyan says the plan offered by the party’s leader,
Raffi Hovhannisian, is an attempt to maintain certain positions on
the political arena.

“If the call prompts measures for a round-table discussion expected to
bring the opposition around a round table together with the authorities
for developing an agenda over pan-Armenian issues, that’s already
unfeasible” she told Tert.am. “The situation, which we now have thanks
to the authorities, is naturally very advantageous to them. Hence they
are not going to make any reforms or change the rules of the game; the
existing rules help them reproduce themselves and maintain power. So
to what extent does it make sense to make such a call? We know very
well that the authorities do not need to develop a national agenda;
they are satisfied with what we have today.”

Sargsyan further emphasized the need of distinguishing opposition’s
radical wing from the opposition in general.

“There is both an opposition and a radical opposition. I classify
myself as a radical oppositionist. Hence a round table discussion with
the authorities is not realistic for me. Not because I don’t think it
is possible to talk to the authorities or try to develop an agenda,
but because I understand that the authorities’ agenda is completely
different; it is not intended to make any changes or violate the game
rules,” she added.

Sargsyan, who represents the opposition Armenian National Congress
(ANC) faction in parliament, disagreed to the opinion that the
opposition has now gone underground. “Our young [activists] attend the
protests against the increased public transport fares, and those taken
[to the police] were mostly young people, active members of the ANC.

So, you don’t have any grounds to say that the opposition is passive.

Whenever you see activeness in any place, you can make no doubt that
the opposition is there.”

But the politician agreed to Heritage leader’s remark that the
political developments are going to gain ground in autumn.

“I think the processes will grow into bigger developments. And I find
that the situation today calls for measures to avoid hampering the
civil initiatives, instead of trying to offer any assistance. The
people have to realize that they have rights in our country. They
have to realize that they are to to protect those rights. As for the
political forces, they will join the civil initiatives and we will
be ready to develop our agenda and move ahead in September after the
initiatives become active to a sufficient extent,” she said.

Armenian News – Tert.am