WHEN GOSSIP MIXES UP WITH POLITICS
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
Sept 4 2007
Armenia

HAMLET HAROUTYUNYAN, Head of "Artsakh" Compatriots’ Union and
member of the RPA Parliamentary faction answers the questions of the
correspondent of "Hayots Ashkharh"

"Do you believe that Levon Ter-Petrosyan will return to "big politics"
and accept the challenge of the members and supporters of the Armenian
pan-National Movement for being nominated a united candidate?"

"Levon Ter-Petrosyan is the first President of the Republic of
Armenia; he is a scholar, an intellectual deserving respect. But,
believing the first President of our country, I believe his promises
as well. In 1998 Levon Ter-Petrosyan promised that he was ready to
return to politics provided the whole nation asked him to do so.

Personally I, have noticed no such pan-national request or public
demand in our society. No such forums have been convened, and no
demonstrations have been held; the people have not publicly asked L.

Ter-Petrosyan to return to active politics.

I think the first President is consistent in his promises, and he
will stick to his promise in this case too. From this point of view,
I rule out the possibility of his running for Presidency, at least
in the present-day situation."

"Touching upon the re-arrangement expected this autumn, Hovhannes
Hovhannisyan, leader of the Armenian Liberal Progressive Party,
recently mentioned the following variant as a possible outcome of
the electoral processes: ‘Levon Ter-Petrosyan – President, Serge
Sargsyan – Prime Minister’. Is it possible to picture anything of
the kind in general?"

"Why do you pay attention to anything that is being discussed?

There are people who make reverences to everybody all around,
anticipating some outcome, but such outcome is absent, regardless
whether it is good or bad. Society has many ponderous statesman,
politicians and representatives of culture, and it is worth listening
to and considering their opinion.

Perhaps, it is due to the scarcity of materials that the media have
been recently holding such serious and long discussions about the
personality and ‘prominent’ ideas of people of any quality, age and
biography, as if they had made a brilliant discovery. H.

Hovhannisyan’s statement is so far from being true and so ridiculous,
that I don’t think it is worth paying attention to it. " "Whereas,
the well-known circles continue nourishing hopes that the RPA will
split in case Mr. Ter-Petrossyan’s appears on the political arena."

"I have to make the same statement. What we are speaking about does
not make sense; moreover, it is simply ridiculous. I don’t know
what serves as a source for such rumors. Personally, I am in that
atmosphere; I communicate with the Republicans, but I haven’t noticed
anyone to be looking forward to the advent of Levon Ter-Petrosyan or
any other activist.

Nowadays, gossip has, unfortunately, become so mixed up with politics
that sometimes it is impossible to avoid lumping everything together
and to distinguish gossip from specific political developments and
political prognoses. In fact, the political arena is more stable and
predictable in Armenia; therefore we are not in store of unexpected
developments and surprising changes in the near future."

"Do the ‘political developments’ inside the pro-Opposition camp give
us grounds to hope that the eternal search for a united candidate will
finally come to its logical end this time, and the struggle between
the Government and the Opposition will be put on ideological bases?"

"Generally, any government needs a strong opposition. That’s to say,
a classical opposition which can help the same government, by pointing
out its wrongs and flaws. We do not have a classical opposition,
and this is to the detriment of our state and our people.

All we have is a group of individuals seeking to accede to power. In
no country of the world does this kind of opposition have success.

Moreover, we turn out to have pro-opposition leaders, without having
an opposition at all. Those people do not simply have a social support;
if they had it, searches for a format would not be so difficult."

"Actually, separate ‘morsels’ representing the pro-Opposition camp are
trying to create some united format by setting up unions; however,
is it possible to unite those groups of people that form the social
support of the activists with different views, ideas and geo-political
orientation? Even if we admit that the meetings which the Opposition
organizes in cafes with the involvement of 10-20 people can produce a
desirable result, does it mean that the ranks of their adherents are
compatible too? Especially we, Armenians very easily reach agreements
around the table and then very easily step back from them.

Therefore, they have to try and create relevant social, economic
and ideological bases, rather than an illusion of the opposition
becoming united."

"Both the Opposition and the Government united around a single
candidate during the presidential elections in Karabakh. How come that
something which was possible in Karabakh cannot work out in Armenia?"

"The situation of Karabakh is a little bit different. Unlike Armenia,
there is no hostility between the Opposition and the Government
there. And perhaps, one of the misfortunes of the Armenian Opposition
is that there are some activists and groups that do not merely oppose,
but rather, have a hostile attitude towards the acting Government
and some of its representatives.

The opposition of Karabakh is a positive opposition, and it acts
with all the features characteristic to a classical opposition. The
Opposition of Armenia is an ‘opposition of threats’, and that kind
of opposition exhausts itself very easily. This is obvious to any
analyst."