DASHNAK LEADER, GEGHAMIAN SEEK ‘THIRD FORCE’ STATUS
By Ruzanna Khachatrian and Anna Saghabalian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 13 2007
Two prominent politicians on Thursday laid claim to the status of a
"third force" in the Armenian presidential race, saying that they
represent a viable alternative to the country’s current and former
leaders.
"The third force has already been created," declared Vahan Hovannisian,
the presidential candidate of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), a junior partner in the governing coalition.
Hovannisian complained that the election campaign has until now
amounted to bitter recriminations traded by President Robert Kocharian
and Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian on one side and former President
Levon Ter-Petrosian on the other. "It is unfortunate that Armenia is
entering the election period with two hostile poles," he said. "A
three-horse race will totally change the situation. It will expose
the real force."
Hovannisian insisted that a news conference that he and his party
had a "more than real chance" to win the February 19 ballot. He at
the same time hinted that Dashnaktsutyun will not leave government
in the event of Sarkisian’s victory. "How can you not cooperate with
a political force that has a majority in the National Assembly?" he
said, referring to Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK).
In a bid to boost its electoral chances, Dashnaktsutyun has been
trying to muster multi-partisan support for its presidential
candidate. In particular, the nationalist party has reportedly
approached two prominent opposition figures, Vazgen Manukian and Raffi
Hovannisian. Manukian, who is highly critical of both Sarkisian and
Ter-Petrosian, is understood to have refused to withdraw from the
race in anyone’s favor.
The more popular Hovannisian, who was barred from contesting the
election because he has not been an Armenian citizen for the past
ten years, has yet to decide whom to endorse. A senior member of his
Zharangutyun (Heritage) party, Vartan Khachatrian, sounded skeptical
this week about Dashnaktsutyun’s chances of winning over the U.S.-born
politician.
In that regard, Hovannisian denied a newspaper report that his party’s
alliance talks with Zharangutyun have stalled. "The talks are not over,
they are still going on," he said.
Also casting himself as a "third force" was Artashes Geghamian, a
once influential opposition leader whose National Unity Party (AMK)
suffered a humiliating defeat in last May’s parliamentary elections.
Still, he was far more critical of Ter-Petrosian and his allies than
the current leadership, accusing the former president of plotting to
provoke a civil war in Armenia during or after the elections."
Geghamian alleged that Ter-Petrosian loyalists plan to trigger violent
clashes in "at least 400" polling stations on voting day. "We will
do everything to prevent events taking such a turn," he told reporters.
Geghamian has faced a barrage of harsh criticism from newspapers
sympathetic to Ter-Petrosian ever since publicly attacking the
ex-president and significantly toning down his long-standing criticism
of the Kocharian administration on November 27. Citing Geghamian’s
recent confidential meetings with Kocharian and Sarkisian, those
newspapers have accused the AMK leader of playing a part in what they
see as a government smear campaign against Ter-Petrosian.
Geghamian went on television late Wednesday to accuse the former
Armenian government of "plundering" the country and ordering political
assassinations during the early 1990s. He also condemned Ter-Petrosian
for urging the West to help ensure the freedom and fairness of the
presidential election.
The lengthy tirade provoked an insulting response the next morning
from a pro-Ter-Petrosian daily which compared the former Communist
Party functionary to a prostitute.
Geghamian says that he is now ready to cooperate with the authorities
for the sake of maintaining "political stability" in Armenia. He
claimed on Thursday that the "upcoming elections will be much more
fair the ones held in 2003 and before."