Armenian authorities, opposition trade threats ahead of “real fight”

Aravot, Yerevan
26 Mar 04

Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Aravot on 26 March
headlined “The stage of frightening each other”

“Time will come and we shall see who will kill whom,” [Defence
Minister] Serzh Sarkisyan has said in reply to the opposition’s call
for a power change in April. His reply may be considered a motto of
today’s domestic political life in Armenia.

We shall see if the opposition will kill the authorities or visa
versa. All this is like a duel of professional boxers inside a ring,
when before the duel they swap threats. Such a psychological
atmosphere is becoming imminent between the authorities and the
opposition. And naturally much depends on who will win. They should
first answer the question – how will their own people react to what
will happen and who will they follow?

Let us start with the opposition. Its leaders speak so confidently
that one starts to believe that they really know where they are going
and are 100 per cent sure that people will follow them. Naturally,
this makes the authorities angry. Though the authorities assure us
that they are not frightened of the spring actions of the opposition,
they are obviously preparing for opposition attacks by strengthening
the prosecutor-general’s office, police, etc.

At present we have only a psychological fight on our political
ring. The real fight has not yet started and it cannot be ruled out
that it will not start. In reality though the authorities and the
opposition are trying to frighten each other as much as possible. They
are also worried as they do not know how people will behave during
their duel. People might decline to referee in this duel and recognize
somebody else as a winner. In all probability this will happen.