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Opp leader sees revolution as way out of Armenian political deadlock

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  • Opp leader sees revolution as way out of Armenian political deadlock

    Opposition leader sees revolution as way out of Armenian political
    deadlock

    Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
    10 Mar 06

    Text of Naira Zograbyan's report in Armenian newspaper Haykakan
    Zhamanak on 10 March headlined "Kocharyan's game is over"

    An interview with the leader of the Anrapetutyun Party, Aram
    Sarkisyan.

    [Haykakan Zhamanak correspondent] Mr Sarkisyan, today foreign and
    domestic political problems are becoming more serious and against this
    background the opposition's position of an onlooker is becoming more
    noticeable. Has the opposition chosen this position as a strategy or
    can it really not find a way to fulfil itself?

    [Aram Sarkisyan] If you were more attentive, you would say for sure
    that not the opposition but the ruling parties have a status of
    onlooker because in this country one person decides who should become
    an ombudsman, how Zorakap village should join another district, how
    the parliament should vote and so on.

    An evident process has been taking place in that camp since the
    interests of the ruling parties started moving away from one another
    because the authorities do not have a general plan for resolving
    serious geopolitical problems.

    Our political partner [Russian President Vladimir Putin] said on the
    territory of another state [Azerbaijan] that he would invite the
    Armenian president for consultations [over Nagornyy Karabakh
    settlement]. That is to say, [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev's
    words were confirmed that he would negotiate not with Armenia but its
    owners. The Russian defence minister said that nothing could prevent
    them from selling weapon to Azerbaijan as well as to Armenia. This
    brings up the following question: where is the [CIS] Collective
    Security Treaty? Are they going to write on the weapons: do not shoot
    at Armenians.

    As a result of the unclear policy of complementarity Armenia has found
    itself in a "cracked" situation as it has turned its own
    complementarity into a game. Every game has an end, and time has come
    for [Armenian President Robert] Kocharyan's game to be over.

    Moreover, different power wings have taken uncoordinated steps. After
    Karabakh President [Arkadiy Gukasyan]'s statement [on Karabakh's
    involvement in the talks], [Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan] Oskanyan
    explained that they did not understand correctly what Gukasyan had
    said. But as far as I know, Arkadiy Gukasyan knows Armenian better
    than Oskanyan. Furthermore, a rally [dedicated to the anniversary of
    the Sumqayit events] was organized at the state le vel, which was
    nonsense from the political point of view. The authorities guided by
    national populism cannot be democrats because fascism is the future of
    an ideology like this.

    Against this background comes a US Department of State report on drug
    business, which the Armenian authorities have not yet replied. That is
    to say, the Armenian authorities were directly told that they have a
    drug business. Thus, these authorities' game is really over.

    [Correspondent] If the authorities' game is over, why is serious
    redistribution taking place within the authorities but not within the
    opposition?

    [Sarkisyan] New ruling parties are being intensively set up. This
    shows that they believe that their journey with Kocharyan has ended
    and they think about staying in power after Kocharyan. I do not take
    it seriously when today somebody speaks about redistribution and
    negotiations between different political forces because nobody can say
    what will happen in Armenia before the [parliamentary] election in
    2007. Therefore, I think that drastic steps by the opposition will be
    useless. One should choose the time for drastic steps. I am sure that
    at a crucial moment the opposition will unite to stage a democratic
    revolution as the problems of Armenia and Karabakh can be settled only
    by means of a revolution.

    US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs
    Matthew Bryza, whom I met in the USA and who was presented by the
    Armenian mass media as Bush's hairdresser, said that democracy should
    be built "from the bottom to the top", and this is the way of the
    revolution. That is to say, today the world understands that Armenia
    is in a political crisis. While speaking about democracy and
    evolution, the authorities are implementing counter-evolution. This
    situation is explosive.

    [Correspondent] What is the way out from the current foreign and
    domestic political deadlock?

    [Sarkisyan] A democratic revolution is the way out and it will happen
    soon.

    Armenia will pass two stages: a democratic revolution in which the
    whole of the opposition will take part, and democratic
    elections. These are the two stages which the opposition will
    undoubtedly fulfil soon.
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