Ex-president using opposition to return to power – Armenian aide

Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
17 Jul 04

All the post-election actions of the opposition are guided by
Armenia’s former ruling party and ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
the adviser to the Armenian president for national security issues,
Garnik Isagulyan, has told Hayots Ashkharh newspaper. The forces
within the radical opposition come forward only with their own
leaders, each of them remains a leader only for his own party and
circle and cannot influence the processes or adopt decisions. The
experienced functionaries of the former ruling party, as well as
foreign forces, which have certain interests in Armenia, could not but
notice this situation and made the best use of the fact that the
radicals were not united and lacked an ideology, Isagulyan said. Now
they are trying to delude the radicals into thinking that the
opposition has no charismatic leader, and in this case, the leader can
be only ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, he said. The following is
the text of Gevorg Arutyunyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayots
Ashkharh on 17 July headlined “The former president will not keep
quiet for a long time”. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

An interview with the president’s adviser on security issues, Garnik
Isagulyan.

Opposition leader’s post vacant

Hayots Ashkharh correspondent The opposition leader’s post is in fact
vacant. Can the factor of the former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
unite the opposition around the Armenian Pan-National Movement APNM ?

Garnik Isagulyan It was clear from the very beginning that all the
post-election actions of the opposition are guided by the APNM. In
fact, the whole intellectual potential of the opposition and people
who have certain political experience are concentrated in the APNM.

The forces within the radical opposition come forward only with their
own leaders. It is not accidental that each of them: the leader of the
National Unity Party NUP , Artashes Gegamyan, the leader of the
People’s Party of Armenia PPA , Stepan Demirchyan, and the leader of
the Anrapetutyun Republic Party, Aram Sarkisyan, remained a leader
only for his own party and circle. Incidentally, low-level party
leaders could not influence the processes or adopt decisions.

Naturally, the experienced functionaries of the APNM, as well as
foreign forces, which have certain interests in Armenia, could not but
notice this situation. Only these forces made the best use of the fact
that the radicals were not united and lacked an ideology. Today they
are trying to delude the radicals and those who are displeased into
thinking that the opposition has no charismatic leader, and in this
case, the leader can be Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who is well-known in the
world, has preserved his influence on the country’s domestic political
life, and has a strict position and options for settling the problems
of Armenia.

It is also hinted that by promising some post to the party leaders, he
will unite the opposition forces and also drum up serious support from
the external world. That is, there is a situation in which the aim is
to persuade everybody that the opposition may win if Ter-Petrosyan
returns.

Pan-national offensive

Correspondent Mr Isagulyan, do you not think that this programme
contains serious elements that break state stability and security?

Isagulyan It certainly does and the main reason for this is that in
fact, no personnel changes have taken place in the middle and higher
echelons of the authorities. Not only did people who had designs on
serious posts in the 1990s and occupy influential positions today
preserve what they had under the former authorities, they also
accumulated serious capital and are playing a certain role in the
economy. It is not so important for these people who combined
authority and capital, who the country’s president will be and what
his position on the state and nationwide problems will be? For these
people, the authorities’ attitude towards them is the only important
condition.

This is what the APNM and its propagandists are promoting today,
saying that they will be very loyal to all those who had posts earlier
and remain today and that they will continue to work and influence the
economy. At this stage of the domestic political developments, only
these factors lead the APNM to reject the role of a hidden ideological
leader and refuse to come forward openly and with its own leader.

Certainly, they will also unite around themselves the radicals who
have experience in street fighting, as there will be a demand to
increase speculation on social and economic difficulties, which they
will not be able to do having the burden of the past. In short,
everything is being done for creating a serious base for a
pan-national offensive in autumn.

Ter-Petrosyan will not keep quiet for a long time

It is not accidental at all that the leader of the PPA, Stepan
Demirchyan, has been invited to a meeting of the US Democratic
Party. During his trips abroad and his meetings with diplomats here,
this leader said many times that it would be better if the opposition
was loyal to Levon Ter-Petrosyan and his possible return. In case of
support, Demirchyan was also promised financial aid, which will make
it possible to carry out the desired change of power.

Foreign forces have an undisguised interest here, because if power
changes and Levon Ter-Petrosyan returns, they will be able to
implement all their interests incomparably better, which will
certainly not be in favour of Armenia. I do not think that after
intensifying his activities in autumn, Levon Ter-Petrosyan will keep
quiet for a long time. At some point he will reply to the calls for
his return, but as an experienced person, he will not immediately
announce his political resurrection. It is evident that the current
hints in the APNM press are co-ordinated with the former president and
contain hidden tendencies.

Correspondent Can the article in the Armenian Report, which the
pro-APNM press is trying to present as an official American view, be
one of these hints?

Isagulyan Indeed, the American press occasionally touches on Armenia’s
foreign and domestic policy and our problems, but they never use harsh
expressions like the Armenian Report does. This publication cannot be
regarded as an official view. This is simply a propaganda method, as
society does not even know what kind of publication and whose
mouthpiece it is. Simply, they are trying to create an opinion that
the American press is criticizing Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
and sees the alternative only in Levon Ter-Petrosyan. It is evident
that the above article also finds room in the APNM’s strategy and
propaganda. All this creates a demand for a very serious
counteraction. If we do not take the necessary measures in time, then
it will be more difficult to control the reality later.