Reshuffling as an element of the Armenian political struggle

The end of 2010 saw extraordinary reshuffles in government. The mayor of Yerevan, several ministers and high-ranking officials were relieved of their duties. The official goal of these changes is increasing the efficiency of the administration, but it seems that all these actions are aimed at strengthening the positions of the ruling party to ensure its prevalence in the 2012 parliamentary elections. Anyone interested in Armenian politics can't fail to notice that the presidential administration is doing its best to strengthen its position in the 'Rule of Law' parliamentary coalition. So the ruling Republican Party of Armenia shows its other political allies, such as the 'Prosperous Armenia' party, that in can easily do without them by uniting with the 'Rule of Law' party instead. Over the past few months the 'Rule of Law' party has already accepted a lot of new members and some previously expelled ones, some of them with less-than-perfect reputations, that could also serve as an indicator of the above-mentioned process.

By artificially strengthening the 'Rule of Law' party, the Armenian president is strengthening his own Republican party and turning the 'Rule of the Law' party into a political adjunct of the ruling party. Today, president deals with the 'Rule of Law' party's cabinet quota as if it were his own, by replacing ministers without any clear reasons and appointing others: the Ministers of Transport, Agriculture and Emergency Situations were replaced this way. The posts were given to people who are officially members of the 'Rule of Law' party, but de-facto are pursuing the interests of the ruling party rather than their own.

It is obvious that future parliamentary candidates of the 'Rule of Law' party will also follow the ruling party's lead. The so-called democratic government of Armenia just can't stomach the existence of major parliamentary opposition coalitions. The President clearly intends to distribute all possible positions of authority personally and will try to drive the 'Prosperous Armenia' party, which is under the strong influence of ex-president Robert Kocharyan, away from all vital political posts. All this reshuffling is designed by the authorities to demonstrate to the people of Armenia that the government is ready to admit its inefficiency and to change for the best, but it is evident that such measures can't introduce any real changes to the situation. The position of the opposition will be clarified at the 5th party conference of the 'Prosperous Armenia' party. Its leader, Mr Tsarukyan, has no ambitions for the presidency, so if he doesn't want to support Sargsyan he'll have to propose someone else from his own party, as the 'Rule of Law' party can't be considered to be a realistic alternative to the ruling party. And this 'someone' is most likely to be ex-president Robert Kocharyan himself. However, Tsarukyan will not dare to undertake such a bold step and will support the current president.

David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK