Raffi Ovannisyan. Politician from the US

The Heritage party, supported by Free Democrats, has good chances in the parliamentary elections on May 6th, moreover, the leader and initiator of the party, Raffi Ovannisyan, holds a special place in the hearts of the electorate. He was raised in the family of a tutor at University of California Berkeley, Professor Richard Ovannisyan. Considering the traditional values of Armenia, society relies on the principle “like father, like son.”

He was born in California and is thought to differ from other leaders of Armenian parties in his manners, Western mentality and personal skills. Ovannisyan received a legal, historical and political education. He returned to Armenia in 1990 and headed the office of the Armenian assembly of America on the reconstruction of Spitak after the earthquake of 1988. In 2007 he was elected deputy. Ovannisyan and his family are well-known in Armenia for their charity programs and support of orphanages.

However, the main trumpet of Ovannisyan is his American habit to shake hands with all people he meets. Any person can come to Ovannisyan and talk to him about his or her problems. Therefore, the politician makes it clear that he is an indispensible part of the common people. Ovannisyan goes to football matches, the cinema and theatres and becomes acquainted with the majority of the audience. The effectiveness of such a policy is obvious, and the results of opinion polls confirm it. Ovannisyan’s image is contrasted to images of other Armenian politicians. The leader of Heritage visits regions riding the bus together with his team, while the leaders of the Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia, the Armenian National Congress and other rivals come in expensive cars.

Few things are known about the property of Ovannisyan. He prefers to walk or take a cab in the city, he has no expensive cars. He lives in an ordinary apartment. He has never been seen in casinos either in Armenia or abroad. This makes him able to say his party has no money-bags. It is very difficult to argue with this statement. He wears simple suits, no expensive watches or jewelry.

In his slogans, Ovannisyan calls for power to be returned to the people. However, Heritage has a dim image, as its election program contains only shallow statements. A deep analysis of Ovannisyan’s political activity shows the presence of populism, but this correlates with his American mentality. He proposed official recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh's independence to the parliament. As a diplomat he understands that the initiative has no future. But Armenian society perceived the initiative positively.

Ovannisyan’s statements and deeds are inconsistent and controversial sometimes. For example, he twice stated his intention to leave the parliament in protest against this or that governmental decision, but changed his mind in both cases. Sometimes it seems Ovannisyan doesn’t rely on his personal view only, but is influenced by some powerful force. He frequently meets representatives of foreign states, especially of the USA. He also visits the US and the UK, and after such visits he presents new proposals to the parliament. It is difficult to understand his real intentions. It is difficult to understand his real intentions.

Raffi Ovannisyan has shown himself to be a brilliant PR specialist. The last PR step was an indefinite hunger strike, declared on March 15th, 2011, that was the most popular theme for discussion in Armenia for a whole month. Ahead of the protest action he shaved his moustache, probably because we wanted to look thinner and exhausted. It is interesting that this decision was a surprise to everybody, including his relatives and political supporters. The politician couldn’t explain his actions clearly. “I cannot accept what is going on in the country and the slander that has hurt me and my family,” the deputy said, explaining his motivation. As a result, Ovannisyan was seated in the open air for 16 days in Yerevan, talking to passers-by and rejecting numerous calls to stop the strike in favor of his health. Only on the 16th day of the hunger strike did Ovannisyan state it would end, as it threatened his health and life directly.

Ovannisyan achieved his target – his rating grew. The opinion polls confirm it. Ovannisyan is sure that the “Heritage” party will form an absolute majority in the parliament after the elections. However, it sounds doubtful.

David Stepanyan. Yerevan. Exclusively to VK