OPPOSITION – IN A DEADLOCK
Armen Tsatouryan
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 22, 2008
Armenia
And in need of a dialogue
On April 19, when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe was passing Resolution # 1609 on the "Activity of Democratic
Institutions in Armenia", our opposition was holding a demonstration
in the Children’s Park of Yerevan.
The fact that those two events coincided in time aspect may considered
by some people as the aftermath of the international pressures
against Armenia.
Others may view it as the opposition’s attempt of attracting the
world’s attention, and still another third group of people may look
upon it as a mere coincidence.
However, such diversity of opinions cannot separate this phenomenon
from its essence.
If we are capable of organizing a demonstration in the heart of the
capital city because of the recent changes introduced to the law on
"Holding Assemblies, Rallies, Marches and Demonstrations", a document
that attracted criticism even by the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, it means that the whole system of forcible though
temporary restrictions of democratic norms is beginning to gradually
lapse in Armenia.
For solving the problems of our citizens who have found themselves
in the opposite barricades of the political struggle there will be no
need to organize hearings in Washington or Strasburg, invite there the
representatives of the participants of the March 1-2 confrontation,
"ask them to the ring" and allow them to properly curse one another,
spot our country’s reputation and gladden the Azerbaijani leadership
which accuses the international community of applying double standards
in relation to the recent developments of Armenia.
It is just necessary for us to realize that as a nation having a
civilization of 5 thousand years, our standards of behavior and
ability to understand one another are enough to get along without
the assistance of PACE and the "Helsinki Committee" of the US
Congress and implement the clauses underlying their resolutions and
"recommendations" on our own.
It’s time for the participants of the recent political confrontation
to put aside the thunderous statement "we have won" (instead of the
April 19 slogan "we will win") and look upon the reality with sober
eyes. The PACE Resolution, adopted on Aril 19, has not only imposed
certain requirements upon the authorities of Armenia, but also obliged
the opposition to recognize the results of the February 19 elections
or to appeal against them in a civilized manner, by applying to the
European Court of Human Rights, Strasburg.
By the steps undertaken since February 19, the authorities have already
expressed their willingness to comply with those requirements, and
the first evidence is the authorization of the rally organized by
the opposition.
A question arises as to what the opposition will do if all the people
who didn’t resort to violence during the March 1-2 events are released
and the restrictions introduced in the law on "Holding Assemblies,
Rallies, Marches and Demonstrations" are mitigated. Will it organize
new marches and demonstrations so as there will be new clashes,
violence and hence – arrests or, is it going to comply with the
proposals enshrined in PACE Resolution # 1609, thus recognizing the
results of the February 19 elections or applying to the European Court
of Human Rights? But the whole problem is that, having found themselves
in a deadlock, the whole political team supporting L. Ter-Petrosyan
has already been deprived of the opportunity of choosing any of the
above-mentioned options. After the passage of the PACE Resolution, the
opposition no longer has the opportunity of abusing the opportunity to
"dispute" the results of the February 19 elections "in the streets",
and in case of applying to the European Court of Human Rights, it will
be absolutely deprived of the right to speak on the topic because,
likewise in the Constitutional Court of Armenia, the opposition will
be unable to prove its barefaced allegations in Strasburg.
So, L. Ter-Petrosyan is facing the dilemma of either committing a
political suicide or initiating a dialogue with the authorities. As
to a third way, it simply doesn’t exist, because even though it is
possible to "prolong" the existing abnormal situation for several
months and wait for the new authorities to commit blunders in order
to be able to criticize them, this will not change anything, as a
matter of fact.
As to the opposition and its leader that brought the people to the
streets after February 19, they, too, may be deprived of their current
status at the coming stages of the political processes if they are
unable to form part of the political counterbalances developing
at present.