THE MISSION OF LEVON’S EMISSARIES
Vrezh Aharonyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 22, 2008
Armenia

As shown by the developments of the internal political life, the
discussions around PACE Resolution # 1609, adopted on April 17, are
becoming more and more heated. There are great expectations especially
in Mr. Ter-Petrosyan’s team.

Here, the process of increasing the "extent of pressure" upon the
Armenian authorities through the European structures is viewed as
a priority.

For solving this problem, the pro-Levon activists have put into
practice all the potentials of their political arsenal, including both
delicate irony and swaggering. As to what extent the expectations of
L. Ter-Petrosyan’s political team from the PACE Resolution are real
and to what extent the team will manage maintain this policy as a
"hot line" by the established time-limit (June), it’s a matter of time.

However, one fact is already obvious: the European diplomatic and
political circles are beginning to adopt a reserved attitude towards
revolutionary extremism.

It’s a well-known fact that a week before the May 2 congress,
L. Ter-Petrosyan’s office sent invitations of participation to all
the Heads of the embassies (especially those of the Member States of
the Council of Europe) accredited to Yerevan and the international
organizations, being confident that they would attend the first big
event organized after March 1. However, no serious representative of
the diplomatic corpse was present at the May 2 congress (there were
only three diplomats); the embassies of the United States, England
and Romania were represented on the level of ordinary employees.

This fact infuriated the leadership of the movement and especially
L. Ter-Petrosyan who, if you remember, constructed his speech in
the context of sending "messages" to foreign countries. For two days
following the congress, Ter-Petrosyan’s office was busy translating
the text of the ex-President’s speech; later, the material was sent
to the embassies in DVD format.

Of course, the European diplomatic structures did the right thing by
refusing to participate in the congress; however, in case of a more
in-depth analysis, they will arrive at the conclusion that Armenia’s
compliance with the requirements of PACE Resolution # 1609 is not
advantageous to L. Ter-Petrosyan and his movement. Because in that
case they will have but one choice: to publicly recognize and admit
their own defeat.

The developments around the requirements of the PACE Resolution and
the authorities’ delay in complying with some of its clauses directly
serve as a lifebuoy for Ter-Petrosyan and his team, as they have found
themselves in a deadlock. We believe the "pan-national movement" has
already exhausted itself, and Resolution # 1609 is L. Ter-Petrosyan’s
last chance for saving the reputation the collapsing movement
vs. stabilizing the situation in the country.

Anyway, all L. Ter-Petrosyan wants is to have the PACE not only
deprive Armenia of the right to vote but also raise the question of
our country’s membership in that structure. But the issue is whether
the overwhelming majority of the RA citizens desire that. This is the
question that should arouse concerns among the European structures
as well.

By the way, according to available information, L. Ter-Petrosyan
has decided to send a group of emissaries to Washington under the
leadership of David Shahnazaryan, being dissatisfied with the results
of the recent hearings held in the US Congress with regard to the
current situation in Armenia. The most noteworthy circumstance is that,
during all the meetings in the United States, the above-mentioned
group will try to substantiate the fact that all the allocations under
the "Millennium Challenges" program as well as the other financial
investments will be reduced to dust in our country which is facing
political instability.

This is the true story. Seeking, on the one hand, to win sympathy in
society, and on the other had, disguise his treacherous image, L.

Ter-Petrosyan appeals to the United States not to suspend the
financial allocations; on the other hand, its team is doing its best
to substantiate that "there’s no need to give money to transitional
authorities."

This is L. Ter-Petrosyan’s political style; here is an issue that
foreign countries should really think about.