"THERE IS NO THREAT OF REVANCHISM IN ARMENIA," ASSURES PRIME MINISTER
By M. Khachatrian

AZG Armenian Daily
13/11/2007

Local Politics, Presidential Elections

Thus, the bridges are burnt and the gauntlet thrown.

On Saturday the newly elected leader of the Republican Party of
Armenia was officially announced a presidential candidate, picking
up the gauntlet thrown by the first president of the Republic of
Armenia. "If we had been avoiding any political comments over the
last 10 years, it was only for the reason of preventing unnecessary
tensions in our society," said Serge Sarkisian.

The panic, which is said to have overwhelmed the ruling party, was
at least imperceptible on the party meeting. Of course, the most
part of 650 delegates and about 1500 invitees, who were present to
the meeting, were the people who always adhere to the authorities,
and would most probable flee to some new political power if any
occurred. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of community and loyalty was
strong on the meeting.

New leader of the Republican Party and Prime Minister of Armenia
Serge Sarkisian answered to the messages of his main opponent, Levon
Ter-Petrosian and warned the public, "And now they are trying to
dissolve our statehood. They will not succeed in this. Each of their
efforts shall be prevented". Later, when the reporters tried to make
clear, by what means Ter-Petrosian’s efforts are to be prevented, Serge
Sarkisian explained, "First of all I mean political resources. For
other circumstances, which you probably hint, there are the law
enforcement structures. That is not our party’s business."

Returning to the issue of "Pan-Armenian Movement" party and Levon
Ter-Petrosian personally, we should point out the following statements
of Serge Sarkisian.

Particularly, he said that the "Pan-Armenian Movement" party, holding
absolute authority in Armenia by 1997, made a great number of crucial
mistakes and was forced to leave the political arena. It seemed that
the existence of the party became history, as it split due to inner
controversies. "After 10 years, having taken no lesson of its faults,
the party revives and proclaims that it will go till the end," said
the Prime Minister. According to Mr. Sarkisian, there is no threat of
revanchism in Armenia, much to the honor of our people, but that factor
(of revanchism, – M. Kh.) must not be neglected, in any case. "It is
almost ridiculous, how Ter-Petrosian, having lost all sense of reality,
is hoping for ‘revenge’ and advices President Robert Kocharian and me
to leave politics," said Serge Sarkisian. On his part he advised the
former president to repent for his crimes and beg the pardon of the
people of Armenia. At the same time Serge Sarkisian said he was sure
that Ter Petrosian shall never do that, as he is longing for power in
order to take revenge of all those who opposed him, in order to prove
that the Karabakh issue cannot be settled without giving away the
historical Armenian lands and that national ideology is a fake concept.

His own prospects on Nagorno-Karabakh Serge Sarkisian represented in
the very beginning if his speech, approaching the matter from the
point of view of a candidate for presidential chair. Here are the
cornerstone principles of Karabakh conflict settlement, announced by
the Republican Party leader: first, the national self-determination of
the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must be recognized internationally,
second, and the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh must
have common border, and third, the safety of the population and the
borders of Nagorno-Karabakh must be insured. Sarkisian added that
all this cannot be achieved in an instant and that its realization
is to require hard labors and complex measures.

By the way, Serge Sarkisian’s speech had a stressed pre-election
air. He expressed intolerance against corruption, tax machinations
and other administrational law offences.

Tigran Torosian, who was elected the vice-president of the Republican
Party, in his speech expressed irritation with Levon Ter-Petrosian’s
doubts on Armenians’ victory in the Karabakh war and speculations on
the tragedy of October 27, 1999.

Whether invited or not, not a single representative of the opposition
was present to the meeting of the Republican Party. To the previous
meeting many of the opposition leaders were present, even Aram
Z. Sarkisian. This may mean only one thing: all the bridges between
the ruling "Super-party" and the opposition have been burnt. Whether
it is for good or for ill, we shall learn in late November, when all
the candidates for the presidential elections will be announced.

As it was expected, the allies of the Republicans, the "Prosperous
Armenia" and Armenian Revolutionary Union ("Dashnaktsutiun") party
representatives took part in the meeting. Leader of "Prosperous
Armenia" Gagik Tsarukian declared that his party shall definitely
support the Republicans’ candidate. In despite of rumors about
contradicting interests of the Republican Party and "Dashnaktsutiun",
the latter’s representatives Hrant Margarian and Hrayr Karapetian
declared that the history cannot be turned backwards and spoke about
the long term cooperation between their party and the Republicans.

Armenian politicians have little time. Who shall run for the
presidential chair besides A. Karapetian, Serge Sarkisian and
L. Ter-Petrosian? The sooner we get to know, the better.