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DEMIRCHIAN SEES POPULAR SUPPORT FOR TER-PETROSIAN
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 19 2007
Opposition leader Stepan Demirchian defended on Wednesday his decision
to endorse Levon Ter-Petrosian's presidential candidacy and said
Armenia's former president is enjoying growing popular support.
Demirchian, who was the main opposition candidate in the previous
presidential election, insisted that Ter-Petrosian has a "quite high"
approval rating as evidenced by strong attendance at his recent
rallies in Yerevan. "It has to be pointed out that there have been
no such big rallies since 2003," he said, recalling massive crowds
pulled by him at the time.
"The rallies show that [Ter-Petrosian's rating] is on the rise,"
Demirchian told a news conference. "But everything still lies ahead.
Everything will depend on work organization. The election campaign
has not yet started."
"When the airwaves open up and the first president and forces
supporting him are able to communicate their views to the population, I
think it will be possible to radically change the situation," he added.
President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian and
their allies maintain that Ter-Petrosian is too unpopular to stand
a chance of winning the February 19 election and will not be even
the main opposition candidate. They cite opinion polls conducted by
pro-government organizations which show that less than 5 percent of
Armenians will vote for their former leader.
Demirchian, who claims to have been robbed of victory by Kocharian
in the 2003 vote, dismissed those polls as fraudulent. "Opinion polls
have always been used as a smokescreen for vote rigging," he claimed.
"They gave me 0.9 percent support [in 2003,] even though we won in
the first round. So do not take those polls seriously."
Demirchian's People's Party of Armenia (HZhK) is the largest of a dozen
opposition parties that have rallied around Ter-Petrosian. His decision
not to run for president again and endorse Ter-Petrosian instead
reflected recent years' decline in his popularity that culminated in
the HZhK's dismal performance in last May's parliamentary elections.
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 19 2007
Opposition leader Stepan Demirchian defended on Wednesday his decision
to endorse Levon Ter-Petrosian's presidential candidacy and said
Armenia's former president is enjoying growing popular support.
Demirchian, who was the main opposition candidate in the previous
presidential election, insisted that Ter-Petrosian has a "quite high"
approval rating as evidenced by strong attendance at his recent
rallies in Yerevan. "It has to be pointed out that there have been
no such big rallies since 2003," he said, recalling massive crowds
pulled by him at the time.
"The rallies show that [Ter-Petrosian's rating] is on the rise,"
Demirchian told a news conference. "But everything still lies ahead.
Everything will depend on work organization. The election campaign
has not yet started."
"When the airwaves open up and the first president and forces
supporting him are able to communicate their views to the population, I
think it will be possible to radically change the situation," he added.
President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian and
their allies maintain that Ter-Petrosian is too unpopular to stand
a chance of winning the February 19 election and will not be even
the main opposition candidate. They cite opinion polls conducted by
pro-government organizations which show that less than 5 percent of
Armenians will vote for their former leader.
Demirchian, who claims to have been robbed of victory by Kocharian
in the 2003 vote, dismissed those polls as fraudulent. "Opinion polls
have always been used as a smokescreen for vote rigging," he claimed.
"They gave me 0.9 percent support [in 2003,] even though we won in
the first round. So do not take those polls seriously."
Demirchian's People's Party of Armenia (HZhK) is the largest of a dozen
opposition parties that have rallied around Ter-Petrosian. His decision
not to run for president again and endorse Ter-Petrosian instead
reflected recent years' decline in his popularity that culminated in
the HZhK's dismal performance in last May's parliamentary elections.