NOT ONLY ASPHALT MELTS FROM HEAT
Nayira Khachatryan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 24, 2008
Armenia

But also the brains of the Neo-Bolsheviks

The radical opposition continues to prepare for the demonstration
which is going to be held on August 1.

At the beginning of this month they announced that July was going
to be a period of mobilization, and after LEVON ZOURABYAN, Head
of the pan-national movement, made his statement in "Urbat" club
yesterday, it became clear that the radicals set much store by the
August 1 demonstration which will determine the further course of
their struggle.

The Neo-Bolsheviks believe that the demonstration deriving from the
necessity of "raising a wave of revolt and protest" and "reinstating
the violated rights will have a pivotal importance in the struggle
led for the sake of freedom and democracy."

As regards the agenda, it is not likely to undergo essential changes.

According to L. Zourabyan, the message to be addressed by them during
the demonstration will depend on "what responses the ruling authorities
will make to our initiatives towards regulating the political crisis
in the country."

>From the point of view of the Armenian Pan-National Movement,
the President of the Republic revealed 2 important facts in his
press-conference convened on July 21: first, he is not going to enter
=0 Ainto a dialogue with the opposition, and second, he is not going
to release the political prisoners. So, the topics of the "rejected
dialogue" and the "political prisoners" continue to remain on the
agenda of the demonstration.

The agenda also includes the requirements regarding the place of
holding the demonstrations. "The authorities continue prohibiting
demonstrations in the places which have become traditional. As shown
by the facts, the authorities do not, as a matter of fact, pursue
a goal to reinstate democracy in Armenia, and they demonstrate a
strictly contemptuous attitude towards the Council of Europe."

In his recent press-conference, touching upon the implementation of
Resolutions # 1609 and 1620, President S. Sargsyan mentioned that
the matter did not consist in managing or failing to do something
by January; the thing is that we have undertaken commitments which
are in harmony with the programs of the President, and the plan of
making our country a democratic state is step by step becoming a
reality. While estimating the process of the implementation of the
PACE Resolution, L. Zourabyan considered it necessary to express his
attitude towards the words of the President, "If there is presently
no threat of sanctions, it means that there is no Council of Europe
and no democratic standards for them. They will start thinking about
Armenia’s commitments again when=2 0the months of January or September
are close, and they feel that there might be some serious threats.

The issue of extraordinary parliamentary elections also continues to
remain on the agenda of the "pan-national" movement. The activist of
the movement even hinted that they had new co-thinkers in this matter.

"We have information that some pro-Government forces have started
preparing for extraordinary parliamentary elections." With these words
the speaker closed the topic, without mentioning the source of their
information about the existence of anonymous co-thinkers.

And what about their calls for the President’s resignation – a demand
that they voiced during the July 4 demonstration? Will they raise
the issue on August 1 again? "Of course, we still have some time,
but the extremely tough statements of the authorities as well as their
hard-line posture do not inspire any hope. The authorities do not seem
to be ready to initiate a serious dialogue with the opposition. They
do not seem to be ready to weaken the confrontation in the country."

Does the Ter-Petrosyan-led opposition realize that by the initiative of
submitting "Robert Kocharyan’s case" to the Hague Court, it is bringing
a great harm to our country? It turns out not. "Absolutely. We are
applying to the Hague Court with a very concrete claim. And what does
our claim have to do with the question raised by Azerbaijan? No one
can explain that. It is absurd. What threats are possible here? On
the contrary, it may be a very good prospect for the country if its
leaders are convicted for crimes against humanity. It will only be a
guarantee that the given country will avoid committing crimes against
humanity in future."

As regards the prospect of forming the Armenian National Congress, the
guest speaker of the club expressed an opinion that their principles
are flexible, and he disagreed to the well-known viewpoint of their
colleagues that the congress might lead to the identification of
political parties.

"Yesterday we met with the delegation of ‘Heritage’ party, and
I answered all their questions as to what ideas we had about the
congress. We are quite flexible in that matter, and I am optimistic
that we will establish the Armenian National Congress."