David Stepanyan, Yeveran. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
According to information circulating in the Armenian parliament, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia will organize extra session in December, where its leader, President Serge Sargsyan, will be proposed to be a candidate in the presidential elections of 2013. The Central Election Committee hasn’t defined the date of the elections yet, but most probably they will take place on February 18th.
At the moment none of main candidates for presidentship hasn’t stated officially on his intentions. Such a situation appears in the republic for the first time. The uncertainty was caused by absence of agreement between leading political parties – RPA and Prosperous Armenia.
The closer the date of the elections, the more difficulties appear in relations of previous allies. Sargsyan and a probable rival from PA will compete also with several other politicians: leaders of the union National Self-Identity Parujr Airikyan and the party New Times Aram Karapetyan, the chairman of Peoples Party Tigran Karapetyan, the chairman of the opposition party Heritage Raffi Ovannosyan. After the July session, the leaders of Dashnaktsutyun also stated on possible presentation of their own candidate.
Even today we can say that all these politicians will play no real role in the elections. Their task is to provide legitimization of the current authorities who prepare for next reproduction. The question whether the opposition will present a unified candidate is also acute. However, there are few chances for it.
After first presidential elections in Armenia in 1991, a strange tradition appeared: to deal who will be next president ahead of elections. Elections only fixed agreements of interested sides. Previously the strategy of artificial competition between parties was effective and provided reproduction of the regime in various levels of power. Corruptive nature of Armenian politicans – pro-governmental and pseudo-opposition – caused the tendency when political forces separated from the society and began to lie their own life.
It led to indifference of the society to political processes. Disorientation took place in the Armenian society: the majority of electorate doesn’t trust the power and the opposition, preferring not to go to elections at all or spoil ballots. There were 54 thousand spoiled ballots in the parliamentary elections on May 6. 54 thousand voters and several hundred thousand citizens who ignored the elections are the best confirmation of indifference caused by political processes in Armenia.
Really strong rivals for Sargsyan could be only his predecessors – Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan; however, observers exclude a possibility of their participation. Ter-Petrosyan is thought to be an active player of the Armenian politics, but it would be reasonable for him not to go to the elections as the ANC lost a significant part of its supporters after March 1st, 2008.
Kocharyan has chances, but they are shadowy, as well as his whole activity in recent years. The chances are expressed in a moderate figure of Prosperous Armenia’s chairman Gagik Tsarukyan. Nevertheless, Tsarukyan keeps silence and states no attitude to the elections. It seems he is waiting for somebody’s decision. However, it is obvious that such a powerful force as Prosperous Armenia will do its part.
To be continued.
