Armenian opposition leader takes offence at absence from US embassy party

Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
11 May 05 p 5

Text of Avetis Babazhanyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak on 11 May headlined “Presentation without the opposition”

Swayed by revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, the success
of which was preconditioned by US support for the local opposition,
the Armenian opposition too has taken a clearly pro-American
orientation.

At the same time, the main organization that represents the USA in
Armenia continues to be anti-opposition. The most recent example of
this is the absence of opposition representatives from the ceremony
held on 6 May to present the US embassy’s new building in
Armenia. Almost no-one from the opposition was invited. Almost because
only the leader of the Heritage Party, Raffi Ovanesyan, and his wife
were among the guests. But according to a reliable source, Ovanesyan
was invited not as a representative of a party but as a friend of the
US ambassador, John Evans.

How does the opposition treat such American attitude?

The head of the National Unity Party, Artashes Gegamyan, was more than
tolerant this time.

“I see nothing extraordinary in the fact that they did not invite
us. The embassy thought it appropriate to invite someone who occupies
the post of the president and not to invite members of the opposition
who fight against him. I think this is a very balanced and diplomatic
step,” he said.

Such approach may be explained by Gegamyan’s desire not to damage
relations with the American side because of a mere invitation. The
leader of the Anrapetutyun Party, Aram Sarkisyan, seems to be of the
same opinion. An in-depth analysis of the fact that the US embassy did
not invite the opposition to the ceremony has brought Aram Sarkisyan
to the conclusion that the US administration does not want to damage
relations with [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan, and that will
give them the opportunity to talk him into acting as [former Georgian
President Eduard] Shevardnadze, [former Ukrainian President Leonid]
Kuchma and [former Kyrgyz President Askar] Akayev, i.e. to step down
without bloodshed.

And only the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, Ovanes
Ovanesyan, thinks this is a diplomatic mistake.

“I am very surprised that while US President George Bush speaks about
democracy, the US ambassador to Armenia demonstrates such a
discrediting approach by inviting only government representatives,”
Ovanesyan said.

He added that the ambassador does not have to invite representatives
of all 65 Armenian parties.

“But if representatives of the parliamentary majority were invited,
then the Justice bloc and the National Unity Party should not have
been ignored, as they are also part of the legislature,” Ovanesyan
said.

Despite that, all the opposition politicians we have talked to have
assured us that such behaviour by Mr Evans will not cause them to
change their attitude towards the USA.