David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Although the 2018 presidential election is more than 4 years away, Armenia has begun a serious struggle for the presidency. On January 24, South Korean Chosun.com website posted a message that President Serge Sargsyan underwent stem cell treatment in South Korea, in order to reduce weight and slow the aging process .Head of the Press Service of the President Arman Saghatelian referred to a similar publication about the South Korean president's health voyage in one of Armenian newspapers on Januar 16, as "a stupid lie."However, after January 24, he had actually admit to lying, but with a caveat "the treatment was of a preventive nature and paid from the president's own funds."
Mr Sargsyan, who is curently serving his second term, becomes a "lame duck" and won't be able to take part in the elections of 2018, but somebody needed to discredit him.Violation of the privacy of the patient-president would hardly be in the interests of the South Korean clinic, so the leak was obviously beneficial for somebody from Armenia who has presidential ambitions. There are at least three such persons for today: the ex-president Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Parliament Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan.
To answer the question of the trio who is interested in undermining the president's authority, it is necessary to have the information as to who prefers to see himself as Sargsyan's successor.It is definitely not Prime Minister Sargsyan, judging by the immediate resignation of Armenian ambassador in Seoul and Prime Minister's brother Armen Sargsyan and first deputy director of the National Security Council Romik Harutyunyan after returning from South Korea.Despite the absence of an official explanation about the resignations, it is clear that the leak must be related to the intensification of the struggle for power between Kocharian and various branches of the Republican Party. In the Republican Party today there are at least two umbrella structures headed by the prime minister and parliament speaker. And these two structures, consisting of representatives of new Armenian oligarchy, lobby for their own interests. If the representatives of a rival clan come to power in 2018, they will obviously have a lot to lose, given the appetites of their opponents.
The closer the end of Sargsyan's presidential term, the more his current environment tends to protect themselves and their property, lobbying "their" candidates.In this struggle, everything is used: slander, the truth, the real facts. Nevertheless, Sargsyan and Kocharyan are still on the same team, and it is possible that they will attempt to share the positions of president and prime minister, retaining power in the Karabakh clan.It is clear that Prime Minister Sargsyan and parliament speaker Abrahamian don't fit in such a scheme. The former, for the abovementioned reasons.The latter, because of deserved mistrust from the environment of Serge Sargsyan.Abrahamian has already been made to resign as speaker, suspecting him of "treason," and he returned to the speaker's chair only thanks to the support of his "part" of the RPA. Obviously, Sargsyan and Abrahamian are well aware of it, which expressed in the scandal about the "cell" treatment of the president.
In response, the media keep exaggerating the "diamond" scam involving the Prime Minister. It seems that the recent arrest of the fugitive businessman Ashot Sukiasyan, who played an important role in the scam, will be the next move in the game played by the opponents of Prime Minister.Since last December, Prime Minister and former president actively pour mud at each other in the media, accusing each other of fomenting "economic soap bubbles", "inferiority" and even theft. It is noteworthy that the accusations of both Kocharian and Sarkisian reflect the truth. However, it doesn't affect the situation.
Meanwhile, in Yerevan polls are already held about "How do you feel about the" return "of the second president." Kocharian probes public attitudes, especially among entrepreneurs, who were seriously disadvantaged during the premiership of Sargsyan. Given Kocharian's huge financial opportunities for the scope of Armenia, the former president has a serious chance of a "second coming." Therefore, in the upcoming months we will witness new revelations that will shed light on the true face of the people who govern Armenia.
