Susanna Petrosian, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
An awareness campaign focusing on the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and in particular on its attitude towards the format of participation in the upcoming presidential election, was launched in Armenia. The initiators of the campaign, which was accompanied by a barely concealed nervousness, were representatives of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), state-controlled "independent" experts and "independent" media.
The excitement was caused by two factors. Firstly, the PAP maintained a stubborn silence about its participation in the elections. Secondly, the coordinator of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), Levon Zurabyan, named the ANC and PAP as two most influential political forces in Armenia, which through cooperation can bring about the elimination of the existing regime.
According to numerous statements made by the Republican Party, in the presidential election the PAP will not be able compete against the Republican Party and Serzh Sargsyan will win the elections. In addition, the party functionaries of the RPA believe that a memorandum signed in February 2011 by three former members of the ruling coalition - the Republican Party, PAP and the "Rule of Law" party remains in force. According to the memorandum, these forces have pledged to vote for a single candidate. The ruling party believes that a statement about the participation of its own candidate in the presidential elections would actually be a denouncement of the memorandum of support for a single candidate - i.e. Sargsyan.
The vice-chairman of the Republican Party, the Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan, said that the memorandum was signed by PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan and it will become invalid only if Tsarukyan declares it invalid, which he has not done yet. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan did not rule out that the RPA and PAP will sign a new memorandum or agreement to support the current president in the upcoming presidential election.
For a long time the PAP representatives did not respond to any of the allegations of the Republicans, experts and publications in the state-controlled media claiming that PAP will support the candidacy of the president. However, the mention of the existing memorandum forced PAP to break the silence. A member of the parliamentary faction, Vahe Hovhannisyan, said that in light of the growing popularity of the party among the population the coalition memorandum is just part of history.
The secretary of the Prosperous Armenia party, Naira Zohrabyan, said that although PAP had not yet taken the decision to advance its own candidate at the presidential election, she would suggest thatGagik Tsarukyan should run for the presidency.
The statement by Levon Zurabyan has also shaken the authorities and created a surge in the number of articles aimed at discrediting the cooperation between Zurabyan and Tsakuryan. It is already a year since the famous political analyst Ter-Petrosyan urged all political forces in the country to unite in order to fight the regime of Sargsyan.
On 6th May 2012 Prosperous Armenia participated in the parliamentary elections on its own, despite the memorandum signed on 17th February 2011, according to which it was supposed to participate in the elections together with the Republican Party. As a result of the parliamentary elections, PAP refused to join the ruling coalition and declared itself to be an alternative political force to the Republican Party in the autumn municipal elections. The experts think that an alliance between the ANC and PAP is highly possible.
