RULING PARTY REFUSES TO INVESTIGATE ‘ROGUE’ GOVERNOR
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 21 2007

The governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Wednesday refused
to investigate allegations that the controversial governor of the
southeastern Syunik region affiliated with the HHK bullied a prominent
opposition leader and obstructed his recent visit to the area.

The leader, Vazgen Manukian, toured Syunik last week together with
several other senior members of his National Democratic Union (AZhM).

He alleged on Tuesday that local authorities prevented them from
holding indoors gatherings with voters. He said they were even barred
from spending a night in the regional capital Kapan and were barely
able to check into a hotel in the nearby town of Goris.

Manukian claimed to have received a threatening phone call in his
hotel room from an unknown man who warned him to stay away from Syunik
until the May 12 parliamentary elections. He said he is confident
that the anonymous caller is connected with the Republican Governor
Surik Khachatrian, also known for his "Liska" nickname.

Goris and surrounding villages have long been considered an exclusive
zone of influence of Khachatrian and members of his extended family.

Khachatrian, who is seen as a protege of Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, has tolerated little dissent both in the Goris area and
the rest of Syunik.

"The people of Syunik live under an ordinary feudal system," charged
Manukian. Branding the governor as an "uneducated criminal," the
veteran oppositionist said the HHK should bring him to account if it
is serious about its promises of turning Armenia into a democratic
and rule-of-law state.

"This is not a separate case of insults and intimidation of a single
citizen," he said. "This is a phenomenon illustrating the situation
in Armenia."

But the HHK’s parliamentary leader, Galust Sahakian, made it clear
that the ruling party, which plans to win the upcoming elections,
has no intention to censure Khachatrian or look into Manukian’s claims.

"That is not a matter of political evaluations," he told RFE/RL. "Mr.
Manukian had better ask law-enforcement bodies to conduct an
investigation."

Manukian, whose party is boycotting the vote, did not deny that
one of the aims of his trip to Syunik was to campaign against
Aleksandr Sarkisian, the defense minister’s flamboyant brother
who is running for parliament in a constituency that encompasses
the Goris area. His main challenger is Samvel Babayan, the former
military leader of Nagorno-Karabakh who claims to be in opposition
to Armenia’s leadership.

In a recent interview with RFE/RL, Manukian said that he will try to
help Babayan get elected because he believes "every ballot cast for
Aleksandr Sarkisian is an insult to the Armenian people."

The AZhM leader came up with another argument at a news conference
on Tuesday. "If Serzh Sarkisian’s brother is defeated there, that
will be a big blow to Serzh Sarkisian," he said. "And I want Serzh
Sarkisian to get a big blow."