By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The meeting attended by thousands of supporters of the four main opposition parties of Armenia in Yerevan on October 10 demonstrated the unity of opposition and the common goal of Prosperous Armenia (PAP), the Armenian National Congress (ANC), Heritage and the People’s Party of Armenia (PPA). Their commitment to change the government in early elections has become a highlight among political, public and expert circles.
The government has generally reacted moderately, pointing out the lack of a common agenda of the opposition and expressing doubts that PAP really wants a different government. Vagram Bagdasaryan, the head of the parliamentary faction of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), said that the leaders of non-coalition forces had no common path. Gagik Melikyan, another member of the ruling RPA, said that there was no common opinion expressed at the meeting, that people were disappointed and bewildered by the lack of common demands.
Experts have different evaluations. Some analysts say that the opposition has consolidated society, formed common political goals and refrained from a revolutionary path. Others have criticized the opposition, calling it artificial, they say it has no common agenda.
According to Ruben Megrabyan, an expert of the Center for Political and International Research, the oppositionist quarter had no path at all: "Even the term “non-ruling forces” itself is antipolitical and only shows the staginess of the meeting on October 10.”
Armen Badalyan, an expert in political and electoral technologies, believes that the opposition relies on the potential of societies, which is insufficient for a switch of power, unlike in 2007-2008.
Zaruya Postanjan, a member of the Heritage faction in the parliament, said that the faction consisted of only 4 MPs. Two of them from the Heritage Party itself and two from the Free Democrats, a party much less familiar to Armenian voters.
At a press conference on October 15, Zarui Postanjan, who had earlier refrained from taking part in protests due to their insufficiently radical agenda, presented her version of the opposition platform. The lawmaker proposed a parliamentary opposition represented by PAP, ANC and Heritage to initiate impeachment of President Serzh Sargsyan and prosecution of Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan, regain illegally privatized or acquired state property, dismiss and punish judges involved in political persecutions, punish police, security and military officials involved in political murders and persecutions, form a temporary interim government and hold early parliamentary and presidential elections.
At the same time, considering the size of the faction, the demands of Postanjan have no chance of being heard by society or politicians. Moreover, the order of steps proposed by the lawmaker is unrealistic for many reasons, which Vestnik Kavkaza will describe in the next article.
To be continued
The lawmaker wants criminal prosecution of Sargsyan and KocharyanBy Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik KavkazaThe meeting attended by thousands of supporters of the four main opposition parties of Armenia in Yerevan on October 10 demonstrated the unity of opposition and the common goal of Prosperous Armenia (PAP), the Armenian National Congress (ANC), Heritage and the People’s Party of Armenia (PPA). Their commitment to change the government in early elections has become a highlight among political, public and expert circles.The government has generally reacted moderately, pointing out the lack of a common agenda of the opposition and expressing doubts that PAP really wants a different government. Vagram Bagdasaryan, the head of the parliamentary faction of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), said that the leaders of non-coalition forces had no common path. Gagik Melikyan, another member of the ruling RPA, said that there was no common opinion expressed at the meeting, that people were disappointed and bewildered by the lack of common demands.Experts have different evaluations. Some analysts say that the opposition has consolidated society, formed common political goals and refrained from a revolutionary path. Others have criticized the opposition, calling it artificial, they say it has no common agenda.According to Ruben Megrabyan, an expert of the Center for Political and International Research, the oppositionist quarter had no path at all: "Even the term “non-ruling forces” itself is antipolitical and only shows the staginess of the meeting on October 10.”Armen Badalyan, an expert in political and electoral technologies, believes that the opposition relies on the potential of societies, which is insufficient for a switch of power, unlike in 2007-2008.Zaruya Postanjan, a member of the Heritage faction in the parliament, said that the faction consisted of only 4 MPs. Two of them from the Heritage Party itself and two from the Free Democrats, a party much less familiar to Armenian voters.At a press conference on October 15, Zarui Postanjan, who had earlier refrained from taking part in protests due to their insufficiently radical agenda, presented her version of the opposition platform. The lawmaker proposed a parliamentary opposition represented by PAP, ANC and Heritage to initiate impeachment of President Serzh Sargsyan and prosecution of Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan, regain illegally privatized or acquired state property, dismiss and punish judges involved in political persecutions, punish police, security and military officials involved in political murders and persecutions, form a temporary interim government and hold early parliamentary and presidential elections.At the same time, considering the size of the faction, the demands of Postanjan have no chance of being heard by society or politicians. Moreover, the order of steps proposed by the lawmaker is unrealistic for many reasons, which Vestnik Kavkaza will describe in the next article.To be contin
