ARMENIA: GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION HOLD “OPEN” DIALOGUE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
by Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet.org
May 12 2011
NY
It’s billed as an “open dialogue,” but as the weeks drag on, many
Armenians are wondering what exactly members of President Serzh
Sargsyan’s administration and opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian
are talking about.
So far, neither side will say. But, whatever the details, former
president Ter-Petrosian, head of Armenia’s largest opposition
coalition, the Armenian National Congress (ANC), assured readers last
week in an interview with RFE/RL that the exchange is “open.”
“We openly present our demands, our problems, our programs to the
authorities and the public, and the authorities are openly responding,”
he stated.
The thaw in relations between the opposition and government began
early this spring, in the wake of political upheaval in Egypt and
Tunisia, widespread protests in Yemen and ongoing popular uprisings
in Libya and Syria. President Serzh Sargsyan commended Ter-Petrosian
and supporters for “rallies that are not aimed at splitting society,”
released five opposition activists from prison, and agreed to a broader
investigation of the March 2008 post-election tumult in Yerevan that
left at least 10 dead.
The Yerevan city government followed suit by allowing the opposition
to hold rallies at Freedom Square for the first time since the 2008
confrontation there, while pro-government TV channels, long overtly
critical of the opposition, adopted a friendlier tone to their coverage
of Ter-Petrosian.
In recent weeks, as the government has made its overtures,
Ter-Petrosian’s coalition has moved away from publicly lambasting
the government and issuing calls for early elections. These tentative
steps toward conciliation may be costing the ANC some of its support,
however. “Opposition leaders, who have been chastising the authorities
for years, all of a sudden have become tolerant and have started to
meet authorities halfway; we have no choice but to think that there
has been an internal agreement [with the government],” commented one
opposition supporter who did not want to be named.
Bones of contention do, however, still exist. Ter-Petrosian, true to
his deadline-setting style, has set another deadline – May 28 for
the release of what his side portrays as six remaining “political
prisoners.” He has threatened to stage a massive sit-in protest in
Freedom Square, if the government fails to meet the deadline.
The government, for its part, continues to insist that it doesn’t hold
any political prisoners. “The government’s moves are not stipulated by
the demands of the opposition,” said Eduard Sharmazanov, a spokesman
for the Republican Party of Armenia.
Few Armenians appear to be taking the ex-president at his word on the
protest threat. Earlier, Ter-Petrosian had set an April 28 deadline
for the government’s fulfillment of the opposition demand to free
political prisoners from custody. That date came and went without the
“watershed” moment promised by Ter-Petrosian. “I don’t think anything
will change,” 40-year-old Yerevan economist Edik Manukian said,
referring to the new May 28 deadline.
The political fashion for “openness” is not limited to the opposition.
In a May 10 interview with the MediaMax news agency, former President
Robert Kocharian, who was in office during the 2008 clashes between
protesters and police, asserted that no one gave an order for police
to shoot at demonstrators. “In any case, not that I know of,” he
added. Kocharian blamed the deaths on “either a tragic concurrence of
circumstances, or someone’s deliberate actions in order to discredit
authorities.” Ter-Petrosian has not publicly commented on Kocharian’s
interview.
As a sense of mystery continues to shroud the government-opposition
“dialogue” some opposition supporters, tapping into the local love
for conspiracy theories, have begun to fear that the ex-president has
reached a back-room deal with the government. ANC representatives
refute these reports. “This is just a propaganda trick that the
government resorts to in order to demonstrate that their recent
concessions to the Congress have nothing to do with the government’s
weakness,” asserted Armenian National Congress coordinator Levon
Zurabian.
Still, some analysts believe officials’ moves and statements are
somehow related to those of the opposition leader. “There is no
dialogue; there are mutually beneficial steps,” suggested political
scientist Armen Aghaian. “There is a political game, a performance
where both sides are playing for their own interests, regardless of
the people’s will. … There is an agreement: You scratch my back
and I’ll scratch yours.”
Some other observers look to “external pressure” as motivating the
government’s pas de deux with the ANC. In April, US Ambassador to
Armenia Marie L. Yovanovitch said that Armenia would not be eligible
to apply again for US-financed Millennium Challenge aid monies until it
meets “good governance” standards. That criticism was followed shortly
by a report issued by Council of Europe commissioner for human rights,
Thomas Hammarberg, who targeted the government’s investigation into
the 2008 post-election violence, failure to release jailed opposition
activists and the country’s freedom of the press record.
Political fatigue might also play a role. Thirty-five-year-old Yerevan
lawyer Narine Badalian is among many Yerevan residents who say they
are tired of the political battles. She says she would be happy if
the opposition and authorities came to an agreement. “I want stability
in my country,” Badalian said.
Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance journalist based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.