NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PERFORMANCE

Hayots Ashkharh Daily Newspaper
23 Aug 2007
Armenia

In the estimation of Shavarsh Kocharyan, "The Opposition’s reputation
has sunk in an unprecedented manner," and what’s more, the radicals
"seem for a moment to have become a black cosmic cavity that absorbs
everything: ideas, programs, effective steps". And the former activists
have their considerable investment in it. Together with the campaign
machine serving their interests "these people did their best during
the past years to compromise on the one hand the authority, something
that is natural, and on the other hand – the Opposition, thus hoping to
clean the arena of unreliable elements and prepare the second advent of
the Armenian pan-National Movement – its solemn entrance into Olympus.

As a result, the "pro-Opposition camp has, in a sense, cleaned up,
i.e. weakened, but their chances of entrance are equal to zero.

In such situation, if the pro-Opposition factions do not re-estimate
the past and form a real ideological program-based alternative to the
authorities in power, the NDP will not take part in the Presidential
games.

"We have never engaged ourselves in imitations and will never do
so. If no in-depth processes occur and the approach remains unchanged,
we will not become the participant of those imitations and dramatized
performances."

In response to one of the journalists’ curiosity whether the
"insolvable controversies" can disrupt the Kocharyan-Sargsyan
power hierarchy after the end of the President’s term of office,
Mr. Kocharyan gave a negative answer. No matter how unpleasant to some
people, "R. Kocharyan and S. Sargysan are linked by a chain. Perhaps
there is a problem in connection with the Constitutional amendments,
i.e. their succession as first and second figures. But no conflicts
amounting to hostility are possible between those two people.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress