NEW GUERILLA TACTICS IN GOVERNMENT
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 17:52:54 – 02/07/2012
Vartan Oskanian’s Facebook post on the current state of play of the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict got an interesting response from
the government. Vigen Sargsyan, chief of staff of the President’s
Office, answered Vartan Oskanian on his Facebook wall. In fact, this
response is not official because Sargsyan posted it on his personal
page, not on behalf of the government. On the other hand, Vigen
Oskanian knows that it will be identified with the response of the
government.
He tries to oppose Oskanian’s opinion, noting that the Armenian side
has good attainments in the negotiations, as well as a highlight that
Vartan Oskanian makes a proposal to Levon Ter-Petrosyan on cooperation
over the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. In addition, Vigen
Sargsyan also reminds that Vartan Oskanian described Ter-Petrosyan’s
option of settlement as “defensive”.
Vigen Sargsyan’s option is interesting. He has been in the
presidential office since Robert Kocharyan’s presidency. Sargsyan was
Kocharyan’s assistant. He kept his status through the presidency of
Serzh Sargsyan. When Karen Karapetyan was dismissed, Vigen Sargsyan
was unexpectedly appointed as chief of staff. Earlier an anonymous
letter was received by the mass media stating that Vigen Sargsyan is
suspected of working for the United States. Interestingly, during the
parliamentary elections the press reported that Vigen Sargsyan’s
foothold is weak because Serzh Sargsyan suspects him of a double game,
on the one hand, supporting him, on the other hand, Robert Kocharyan.
And now Vigen Sargsyan decides to respond to Vartan Oskanian who is
now believed to be part of Robert Kocharyan’s team through whom
Kocharyan is trying to promote certain political schemes. Is Sargsyan
thus trying to end Serzh Sargsyan’s doubts and demonstrate that he
supports Sargsyan, not Kocharyan, and even reveals possible
partnership between Oskanian and Ter-Petrosyan, which is almost
equivalent to cooperation between Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan?
On the other hand, Vigen Sargsyan’s response to Oskanian had a
different purpose, a guerilla goal, as some reporters and experts have
been using the term recently. Vigen Sargsyan might be trying to
demonstrate his loyalty to Serzh Sargsyan to remain close to him and
continue his double game as reported by the mass media. After all,
there is a precedent. They applied the same tactics pushing Gagik
Tsarukyan into this guerilla tactics or double game.
However, the important thing is not the motives of initiatives of one
person or another but the level and content of the “dialogue” of ex
and current officials on such an essential matter. In fact, I have
written in my previous article entitled the New Basis for Status Quo
that the Karabakh issue for the ex and present officials remains a
means of servicing one goal or another proceeding from the political
conjuncture.
The dialogue between the ex and current ones is not open and sincere,
which comes to prove the aforementioned. It is not accidental that
during this “dialogue” the sides reverence to the West and Russia
alternately. It means that this is not development of a state and
public viable immunity but a process of settling accounts evidencing
overall state inadequacy of Armenia.
This is a serious issue which has generated a situation where victory
in war became a burden and domestic alibi, not a resource of peace.
Besides, as Vigen Sargsyan is a perceived statesman of the so-called
pro-West vector of the Armenian government, his response may have an
interesting hue. It may be the answer of not only the Armenian
government but, for instance, the answer to the United States, one of
the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, especially that Oskanian
mentioned in his post Hillary Clinton’s recent regional visit.
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