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Books on Armenia
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Update No: 320 - (31/08/07)
The hardliner is going?
The leader of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, is a hard nut. His whole career is
bound up with the fact that he was president of Nagorno-Karabakh, long before he
presided over Armenia itself. He was, indeed, the guiding spirit, in old
fashioned jargon - the warlord, behind the successful war of secession that the
Armenian enclave waged against Azerbaijan from 1989 onwards.
He is a hardliner for sure on this utterly fundamental issue. It is one of the
massive problems bequeathed to posterity by Stalin. He left such a mish-mash of
geopolitical nightmares to his successors that he surely thought that none of
his successors would envisage unravelling them.
But Kocharian did in 1989. He called upon his province to break away from
Azerbaijan, which it duly did.
He is due to step down next year, just as is his mentor, Vladimir Putin, in
Russia. The opposition in Armenia are praying that he has enough integrity to
abide by the constitution, which does indeed forbid a third term, as it does for
Putin in Russia- but as they say, "don't hold your breath"!
Three Parties To Merge In Opposition
The Dasink (Alliance) party led by Samvel Babayan, who from 1993-99 commanded
the armed forces of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, confirmed on
August 21st reports that it is set to merge with two other political groups
ahead of the presidential election due in early 2008.
According to the Yerevan daily "Haykakan Zhamanak," Dashink together
with the diaspora-linked Ramkavar Azatakan Party of Armenia (HRAK) and the
opposition National Revival party are holding negotiations on the merger and are
close to agreement. The paper said the new organization will bear the HRAK's
name and be led by Babayan. He is as hard-line on the Karabakh issue as one
might expect of a front-line soldier.
Representatives of the three parties essentially confirmed that report, although
they cautioned that the talks are still going on. But National Revival head
Albert Bazeyan stressed that "at this point there is only an intention, a
desire to see political forces in Armenia unite on the basis of ideological
similarities." "We have not yet taken any concrete steps in that
direction," he added.
Consolidating The Opposition
A former member of the Yerkrapah fighters who took up arms in 1989 to defend
Karabakh and then formed an influential political group, Bazeyan later joined
former Prime Minister Aram Sargasian's Hanrapetutiun party, but left it in late
2005 after Sargasian abandoned his traditional pro-Russian stance for a more
pro-Western orientation.
Less than two years ago, Bazeyan ruled out any cooperation with Dashink, despite
what he termed his "friendly relations" with Babayan personally, Noyan
Tapan reported on January 30, 2006.
Senior Dashink member Gnel Ghlechian said his party will probably hold an
extraordinary congress in late September to formally endorse the merger with the
HRAK.
He explained the planned merger in terms of the conviction, shared by Babayan
and his allies, that the Armenian opposition is currently too fragmented to pose
a serious threat to the government, and must therefore consolidate. "This
unification, which I hope will materialize, is the way to go for all
parties," Ghlechian told RFE/RL.
None of the three parties cleared the 5 percent vote threshold to win seats in
parliament under the system of proportional representation in the May 12
elections. Dashink won a single parliamentary seat in a constituency in
northwestern Armenia, while the two other parties are not represented in the
current National Assembly at all.
Ghlechian would not say whether Babayan expects to become the chairman of the
new, combined party. "It is too early to speculate who will head it,"
he said. But HRAK Chairman Harutiun Arakelian has indicated that he would not
object to Babayan taking over the new party.
"I personally would not take such a development amiss," he told RFE/RL.
"My task is to make the party stronger and to double or triple the number
of its members and structures."
The HRAK, which has an eponymous sister organization in the Armenian diaspora,
has been loyal to President Robert Kocharian throughout his nearly decade-long
rule. Dashink and National Revival, by contrast, claim to be in opposition to
Kocharian.
It is not clear whether the three parties plan to field a single candidate in
next year's presidential election. Ghlechian was quoted by the independent daily
"Aravot" on August 2nd as saying that Babayan has no intention of
participating in that ballot.
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