Author: Torosian Aram

SERGE SARSGYAN – THE SOLE TOP-RANKED FIGURE IN PUBLIC OPINION POLLS
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkharh, Armenia
Dec 19 2007

Yesterday "Hayatsk" club invited AHARON ADIBEKYAN, Head of "Sociometer"
independent center, to introduce the starting electoral resources
of the participants of the presidential marathon and their potential
chances of winning the votes of the electors.

The speaker was not inclined to touch upon any particular topic;
however, giving way to the persistent questions of the journalists,
he revealed certain data. 26 per cent of the 2220 citizens polled in
October refused to respond to the questions, and only 1650 people
among them participated in the poll. At best, 60-67 per of these
people will participate in the elections. 61.5 per cent of the
respondents are interested in the political processes; they follow
the main developments and are well-informed. 33 per cent "are not
yet interested", while the remaining 5 per cent are interested "to
a certain extent".

Furthermore, the sole and undisputed top-ranked figure is SERGE
SARGSYAN whose activities in the post of Prime Minister were positively
estimated by 60 per cent of the respondents. 30 per cent have said
that the Prime Minister could have worked better, and around 10 per
cent have mentioned that he worked worse than his predecessors.

As shown by comparative analyses, Serge Sargsyan’s rating has
essentially increased in comparison with the beginning of the year.

As of January 2007, only 7.7 per cent of the respondents expressed
willingness to elect Serge Sargsyan. This number increased to 27.2
per cent in October. In January, 25 per cent of the respondents would
not, under any circumstances, vote in favor of the Prime Minister;
their number decreased to 9.4 per cent in October. Moreover, while
in January there were 37 per cent of respondents believing that S.

Sargsyan would win in the presidential elections, there are currently
46 per cent of respondents confident of the Prime Minster’s success.

The positive dynamics is obvious, and this, in the estimation of the
sociologist, creates a positive background for the RPA candidate’s
goal-oriented campaign.

RAFFI HOVHANNISYAN would be the second candidate after S. Sargsyan,
with a great disparity of votes. However, he has appeared out of the
game, and after his crucial defeat in constituency No. 15, his rating
twice decreased. While 10.5 per cent of the voters were willing to vote
for him in January, their number decreased to 5.5 per cent in October.

As a result, ARTHUR BAGHDASARYAN ranks as the second candidate.

9.4 per cent of voters were willing to vote for him in January;
their number was reduced to 4,8 per cent in October. As to LEVON
TER-ETRSOSYAN, he has incredibly doubled his rating, having received
2.7 per cent of votes, instead of the 1.2 per cent recorded
in January. He is followed by ARTASHES GEGHAMYAN, whose rating
has sharply decreased. He enjoyed 8.2 per cent rating in January,
but after "National Unity’s" failure to be elected to the National
Assembly his rating was reduced to 2 per cent. Despite this, Mr.

Geghamyan still has chances to improve his positions and get ahead
of LTP.

VAZGEN MANOUKYAN also recorded a loss of rating. In January, 3.5 per
cent of the respondents considered the NDU leader’s victory probable;
their number was reduced to 1.1 per cent in January. As to TIGRAN
KARAPETYAN, 5.1 per cent of the respondents were willing to vote
for him in January; however, their number decreased to 0.3 per cent
in October.

Instead, VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN has made a progress, as his rating rose to
1.4 per cent from the zero level recorded in January. In the estimation
of A. Adibekyan, "acting as a joker", i.e. representing neither the
ruling authority nor the Opposition, or acting as a representative
of both, has not particularly helped the ARFD candidate, since the
uncertain double approaches do not seem convincing to the voter. The
people want to understand and record clearly ‘who’s who’. Therefore,
you have to be "either a pro-Government or a pro-Opposition figure".

By the way, Levon Ter-Petrosyan ranks as the top figure on the list
of the candidates who are strongly disapproved by the voters.

The ex-President turns out to have no chances for involving additional
electoral resources. 28.5 per cent of the respondents will not vote
for him under any circumstances. "Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s main problem
is that he doesn’t know who to take votes from. Some parts of the
votes are already distributed; another part of the candidates will
not run for election, whereas the others treat him with denial."

As shown by the electoral analysis, the relative 1.5 per cent "leap"
of LTP’s electorate was partly due to the offended mass of people
(those who held offices under the rule of the Armenian pan-National
Movement and are currently average officials, dissatisfied with their
status), and partially due to individual entrepreneurs who are scared
by the fact that "the tax discipline has increased under the rule of
Serge Sargsyan. It has sharply increased.

The 2-3 per cent increase of the Budget means that the tax and customs
administration will become stricter in the near future."

In the context of R. Hovhannisyan’s relatively high rating, it is
important to find out "Where the votes of ‘Heritage’ will go. As
shown by the image analysis, his electorate, in terms of its nature,
educational and age qualification, is closer to the electorate
of Arthur Baghdasryan and little bit – to the electorate of Vahan
Hovhannisyan." That’s to say, if R. Hovhannisyan supports this or that
candidate, his proponents are not sure to orient themselves towards
that particular pretender. The Sociologist believes that at best 1/3
of "Heritage" party’s electorate will cast their vote in favor of the
candidate preferred by R. Hovhannisyan. Moreover, the majority will
support the candidate representing "Rule of Law" and Dashnaktsutyun
parties, and another part will support Artashes Geghamyan.

In short, "together with the votes of Raffi Hovhannisyan, the votes of
the remaining 20 per cent of people who have not oriented themselves
constitute the bone of contention. And the campaign aims to attract
that 25 per cent of voters.

As to the second stage, this issue remains quite uncertain. "I
wouldn’t say the second stage is quite questionable; however, there
are still certain discontents. Of the 74 per cent of the people we
polled, more than 50 per cent are ready to vote in favor of Serge
Sargsyan. However, thousands of new players, i.e. heads of local
headquarters, precinct activists, commission members etc. join the
game during the campaign. Each of them makes his positive or negative
investment in the campaign of the given candidate.

Should the RPA manage to hold a normal, i.e. moderated and accurately
calculated campaign, the elections will be held in a single stage. If
they are weakened or, if they use ignorant methods, the elections
will be held in two stages. Although single-stage elections are more
probable, the second stage cannot be ruled out either, considering
the present-day situation.

ALIREZA HAGHIGHIAN COMPLETES HIS DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Dec 18 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 18, receiving
Alireza Haghighian, the Ambassador of Iran to Armenia, completing
his diplomatic mission in Armenia, RA NA Speaker Tigran Torosian
mentioned Ambassador’s great contribution to development of relations
between the two countries. He emphasized that the relations of
traditional friendship received a new quality during the Ambassador’s
tenure. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA NA Public Relations
Department, T. Torosian attached importance to the fact that bases
for implementation of new programs and projects were also created in
these years.

A. Haghighian, highly evaluating the relations of the two countries,
attached importance to them also in the respect of regional peace
and stability. The Ambassador thanked the NA Speaker for parliament’s
assistance to him in the years of working in Armenia, assuring that
he will remain Armenia’s friend.

According to the report of the RA government Information and Public
Relations Department, the same day RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsian
received A. Haghighian. Expressing satisfaction with the considerable
progress registered in the past several years in Armenian-Iranian
relations in political, economic, cultural, and other spheres,
the Prime Minister attached importance to Ambassador’s immediate
contribution to it as well. He thanked the Ambassador for his efforts
aimed at strengthening the relations between the two countries and
peoples. S. Sargsian said that neighboring Iran is a very important
country for Armenia and the Armenian party is ready to continue
and deepen friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation of many
centuries with that country and people.

Holding the same opinion with the RA Prime Minister in the issue of
the current high level and development prospect of Armenian-Iranian
relations, A. Haghighian said that the wish to develop bilateral
relations in all directions is mutual. He expressed confidence that
these relations will continue developing successfully in the future.

HEAD OF ARMENIAN WORKING GROUP: RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE WELL AWARE OF SAMIR MAMEDOV’S POSITION

2007-12-19 11:09:00

ArmInfo. Relevant international organizations are well aware of
Samir Mamedov’s position, the head of the Working Group of Armenian
State Commission on captives, hostages and missing Armen Kaprielyan
told ArmInfo correspondent when commenting on the statement of
the head of Azerbaijani Working Group Firuddin Sadikov. To recall,
Azerbaijani soldier Samir Mamedov willingly passed to the Armenian
party in December 2006 and does not want to return to his native
land. Sadikov said that pressure is placed upon Mamedov and other
Azerbaijani captives in Armenia.

Explaining the points of International Humanitarian Law to his
Azerbaijani counterpart, Armen Kaprielyan said that if a line-crosser
does not want to return to his native land, his wish should be taken
into consideration. He also added that they stopped being surprised
by such statements of Sadikov.

Touching on Sadikov’s statement allegedly pressure is placed upon
Azerbaijani captives Kaprielyan said: ‘Azerbaijani party is not the
party to speak about treatment of captives. For example, they were
telling a lie that Valeriy Suleimanyan, who was passed to the Karabakh
authorities, did not want to return to his native land. Suleymanyan
stayed at the Azerbaijani party since summer and all that time they
were telling lie. Another example, a 14 year old teenager was kept by
the Azerbaijani party for two months last year’. He also added that
sometimes statements of different Azerbaijani functionaries reach
such an incredible level of nonsense and he does not want to comment
on them.

JOSEPH PENNINGTON: NEW AMBASSADOR IN ARMENIA CAN BE APPOINTED SOON

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.12.2007 16:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The U.S. Ambassador to Armenia will be appointed
and I think it will happen soon," U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Armenia
Joseph Pennington told a news conference in Yerevan.

"Washington attaches importance to Armenia and wants its diplomatic
mission to function in corpore."

"Everything depends on the White House and Senate, which propose and
approve the designate respectively.

The Armenian government has nothing to do with the procedure," he
said adding that the appointment of the new Ambassador will make him
‘the happiest man in the Embassy’.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was recalled over his
public mention of the Armenian Genocide.

Later, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey placed a legislative
hold on genocide denier Richard Hoagland’s nomination to serve as
America’s next Ambassador to Armenia.

AZERBAIJAN YOUTH READY TO JOIN DIALOGUE WITH ARMENIAN YOUTH – MINISTER

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / Òrend corr S. Agayeva / The Azerbaijan youth
are ready to join the dialogue with the youth of Armenia within the
framework of the people’s diplomacy, as this initiative may promote
the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the
Azerbaijani Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov stated to Trend
on 18 December.

According to the Minister, the trust is being actively established
between the Azerbaijani and the Armenian people within the framework of
people’s diplomacy. A group of the art figures from both the countries
recently visited Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to reveal whether
there is a common ground for the position. "I think the Azerbaijani
youth will also support the initiatives and will join the process if
necessary," Rahimov said.

A dialogue between the youth of both the countries took place during
the international conferences in San-Francisco and Brussels. One more
meeting will be held in the Paris in the near future, he said.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988, due to the Armenian territorial claims against the Azerbaijan.

Since 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighbouring
districts. In 1994, a ceasefire agreement signed by Azerbaijan and
Armenia ended the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding the
peaceful negotiations.

–Boundary_(ID_D85fkdRQ1A6V3nN41WZm 7g)–

LEVON TER-PETROSIAN AND RAFFI HOVHANNISSIAN AGREED TO CONTINUE THE DISCUSSIONS

Mediamax
December 17, 2007

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Issues, related to the upcoming presidential
elections in Armenia, were discussed by the Ex-President of Armenia
Levon Ter-Petrosian and the Leader of "Heritage" party Raffi
Hovhannissian.

As Mediamax was told in Ter-Petrosian’s office today, during the
meeting, which took place on December 16, "agreement was reached on
continuing the discussions".

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Dec 15 2007

RIVALRY SHIFTS TO THE BLACK-AND-WHITE PLANE

The law doesn’t and can’t deprive the ex-President from the right
of his nomination for presidency, anyhow political scientist Suren
Zolyan believes Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s claim for presidency is beyond
the frameworks of moral standards.
He says: `An atmosphere should have been created in our reality
that would make him be ashamed of being nominated and continue to be
engaged in science as he used to do for 10 years. But there is a
layer of society, which, as Taleyran once said, `remembers nothing
and learns nothing.’ The return of the ex-President to active
politics unfortunately displayed that the moral values have been
devaluated and don’t exist any more. In such circumstances the
ex-President can definitely become a political factor and as we see
some part of the people is ready to follow him.’
Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s reverence for the oligarchs, whom he tries
to represent as victims, is no less unacceptable for our
interlocutor. `It turns out that not the people, whom he is going to
liberate, are the victims, but the `poor oligarchs’ whom the
authorities have deprived of the right to become as rich as they
want.’
As for the interference of the foreign powers in our elections,
taking into account the slogans with which L.T.P. appears, declaring
that Armenia’s future is to rely on Turkey and Azerbaijan, he said: `
it is not excluded, but the interference of the foreign powers is
hardly possibly in this issue.’
Can the alternative `poles’ create climate in the forthcoming
presidential elections or the main rivalry will be between L.T.P and
the pro-governmental candidate, as the activists of Armenian Pan
National movement state.
S. Zolyan believes: ` theoretically the candidates can raffle the
factor of the third power and introduce it as a real alternative,
saying that the present and the former ones have discredited
themselves by abusing one another. They can probably use that chance.
But most probably the variant of the black and white will work.
L. Ter-Petrosyan managed to polarize the atmosphere and shift to
political rivalry to the black-and-white plane – either you are with
me or you are `sold’ and you serve Serge Sargsyan. This deprives the
alternative poles to play an intermediary role and practically two
candidates will remain.’
And the chances of these two candidates according to the political
scientist essentially differ.

S. HARUTYUNYAN

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF
THE HENCHAG PARTY VISITS ANTELIAS

The Central Committee of the Social Democrat Henchagian Party visited the
Catholicosate of Cilicia in Antelias and met with His Holiness Aram I on
December 13. The delegation was headed by the chairman of the Central
Committee, Setrak Adjemian.

The Catholicos and his guests discussed issues related to the two wings of
the Armenian nation in Armenia and the Diaspora and new possibilities of
cooperation. Talks were also held on the priorities of Armenian communities
in the Diaspora and the importance of strengthening internal unity on all
levels.

During the past week, the party celebrated its 120th anniversary. In a
special Letter, His Holiness offered his high praise on this occasion.

The Pontiff also received Thursday the Lebanon branch of the "Armenia" Fund,
which is currently preparing for its annual telethon. The Catholicos
highlighted the mission of the Fund to rebuild the homeland and encouraged
the fund’s representatives to continue its activities in a more organized
and systematic manner.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

HRACHYA TAMRAZIAN: CONSTRUCTION OF MATENADARAN’S SCIENTIFIC ANNEX IS A NECESSITY

Noyan Tapan
Dec 13, 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. The construction of Matenadaran’s
scientific annex is a necessity today, especially as the number
of its employees has a tendency of growing. As Hrachya Tamrazian,
the Director of Matenadaran, said in his interview to Noyan Tapan
correspondent, all scientific departments of Matenadaran need new
specialists, new departments should be also created, but the building
conditions are not sufficient. In case of building a new scientific
annex the scientific department will be placed there, and exhibitions
will be organized in the current main building.

According to H. Tamrazian, the institution has a restoration department
with modern equipment, where incunabular and rare manuscripts, books
and press kept not only in Matenadaran, but also in other institutions
are restored.

This department also needs to be "multiplied," as it takes more than
two years to restore one manuscript.

H. Tamrazian also said that 90 manuscripts have been already videoed
by the device donated by Lebanese Armenian architect Perch Guyumjian,
as a result of the digitalization work being done in Matenadaran at
present. "There is no time to test the device, we at once started
videoing the manuscripts," the Director said.

As regards the deal with the American Hill Museum-Library
of Manuscripts, H. Tamrazian excluded that Matenadaran will ever
cooperate with any organization of the kind on such terms: "this is
inadmissible and dangerous." "Cooperation with foreign organizations
should be carried out by the principle of not giving them copies. We
are ready to cooperate with other foreign organizations, including
the Austrian Graz University," he emphasized.

The Director said that the Austrians have already worked with such
devices, have experience and tested devices, which have passed
expertise. They will give the devices without preconditions. "And
for them, it is beneficial to cooperate with such a large museum of
manuscripts as Matenadaran."

According to H. Tamrazian, the videoing work of manuscripts is
the first stage of the digitalization program, that stage is being
fulfilled through donations. The funds for the next stage will be
allocated by the government, for manuscripts subject to restoration,
which need to be restored and rehabilitated before videoing.

ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE PLACE WHERE A NEW HOSPITAL WILL BE CONSTRUCTED
Karen Mirzoyan

Azat Artsakh Tert, Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Dec 12 2007

On December 11th, the NKR President Bako Sahakian held a working
conference, connected with construction of a new annex of republican
hospitalof Stepanakert and the process of designed works.

At the second part of the day the President, accompanied by the
participants of the conference, was in that place, where a new
republican hospital would be constructed.

Let’s add, that the annex will have also surgeries and stations of
blood transfusion. By the assignment of the President, the participants
of the meeting till Saturday will analyze the existent versions,
as well as the suggestion about the structure of a new building of
the hospital.