ARMENIA: OPPOSITION LEADER OFFERS OLIVE BRANCH TO GOVERNMENT
by Mariann Grigoryan
EurasiaNet.org
June 1 2011
NY
After more than three years of political strife, the Armenian
government and the country’s main opposition coalition, the Armenian
National Congress, appear ready to bury the hatchet.
At a May 31 rally in Yerevan, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian,
leader of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) called “for a formal
dialogue with authorities.” He added that the ANC would select a
delegation “within the next few days” to conduct political talks with
government representatives. The ANC is also planning to present a
“dialogue agenda to authorities” that includes a call for early
presidential and parliamentary elections, Ter-Petrosian said.
News of the ANC’s conciliatory steps followed the release of opposition
activists Nikol Pashinian and Sasun Mikaelian. Both were imprisoned
for their alleged role in the 2008 street violence that followed
Armenia’s last presidential elections.
In a marked departure from his earlier portrayals of President
Serzh Sargsyan’s administration as having stolen the 2008 election,
Ter-Petrosian urged his supporters to give the government’s views a
fair hearing. The pending political talks, he declared, do “not mean
we should not take into consideration the agenda and counter-offers
put forward by the government, otherwise the parity [between the ANC
and government] will be violated.”
At a June 1 press briefing, Parliamentary Speaker Hovik Abrahamian
welcomed Ter-Petrosian’s readiness for talks. “When the radical
opposition addresses such a proposal to authorities, I think the
president of the republic will take the initiative and organize this
dialogue, which I believe will favor the interests of the Republic
of Armenia and the people,” Abrahmian said.
Ter-Petroisian’s announcement disappointed some of his followers.
Forty-three-year-old furniture-maker Vardan Ayvazian described
himself as “deeply upset” by the decision on “laying down arms,”
given Armenia’s severe problems with unemployment and labor migration.
“Did we strive for a dialogue in this format after so many years of
struggle?” asked Ayvazian. “I had far more expectations; I thought
I was fighting for great changes.”
Local analysts believe the ANC’s calls for dialogue and for
early elections are aimed at maintaining voters’ trust. “This is a
rational approach; Levon Ter-Petrosian understands that he cannot act
differently,” said independent political analyst Yerevand Bozoian,
noting that Armenians appeared to be increasingly fatigued with
political rallies.
Signs of a thaw came fitfully, but consistently in recent months. As
Ter-Petrosian toned down his anti-government rhetoric, officials
started to make concessions, including a decision to permit opposition
rallies in Yerevan’s Freedom Square, site of the 2008 clashes between
police and protesters. Officials also announced a new investigation
into the 2008 events and declared an amnesty that freed those described
as political prisoners by the opposition.
Aiming to reassure his supporters that no back-room political bargain
has already been fixed between the ANC leadership and the Sargsyan
administration, Ter-Petrosian stressed that “a dialogue does not at
all mean loving and hugging each other, or reviewing one’s opinion
about the other party.”
Independent political analyst Suren Surenyants, a former senior
Ter-Petrosian supporter, expressed hope that the dialogue would make
Armenia’s political dynamic more evenly balanced, and lead, eventually,
to fair elections. “[T]his dialogue will create a favorable situation
for both parties in the future,” Surenyants claimed. “No changes can
be expected without mutual concessions.”
But one non-ANC opposition politician, senior Heritage Party MP
Armen Martirosian, voiced concern that the ANC might still abandon
its political values in an effort to obtain a share of power.
“Since the parties are ready to make concessions, they will come
to an agreement on other issues as well,” Martirosian said. Bozoian
echoed that assessment. “[M]ost likely, the so-called dialogue refers
not to early elections or to [addressing] people’s social problems,
but rather to sharing power,” he asserted.
Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor-in-chief of MediaLab.am.
From: A. Papazian