OPPOSITION PARTY RIVEN BY BITTER RIFT
Ruzanna Stepanian
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17.12.2009
An opposition party affiliated with the Armenian National Congress
(HAK) has been effectively split by a bitter leadership battle between
two rival factions keen to oust each other from the party ranks.
A group of senior members of the Armenia organization of the Social
Democratic Hnchakian Party (SDHK) openly revolted against its
chairwoman, Lyudmila Sargsian, last week, accusing her of ignoring
dissent and violating party statutes. They declared her leadership
null and avoid, claiming that most SDHK chapters in the country have
voted no confidence in Sargsian.
Armenia — Dissident members of the opposition Social-Democratic
Hnchakian Party hold a news conference on December 17, 2009.The
dissidents held what they called a party congress on Wednesday. One
of them, Gevorg Perkuperkian, was elected as new party chairman. He
insisted on Thursday that the SDHK board headed by Sargsian has been
disbanded and can no longer represent what is the oldest Armenian
political party.
Sargsian laughed off the claims, however. "No matter what they decide,
I am still the chairperson," she told a news conference.
Sargsian blamed the damaging split on Setrak Ajemian, the supreme
leader of the SDHK structures in Armenia and major Armenian communities
around the world. She alleged that Ajemian engineered the revolt as
part of a secret deal with Armenia’s government aimed at bringing
the party out of the HAK and eventually breaking up the opposition
alliance led by Levon Ter-Petrosian.
Perkuperkian insisted, however, that his faction has no intention to
quit the HAK. He also denied any collaboration with the authorities.
The HAK, meanwhile, issued a statement later on Thursday regretting
the infighting and urging the party to restore its unity. In the
meantime, the alliance said, it will continue to accept Sargsian as
the legitimate leader of the once influential party that was set up
in the Ottoman Empire more than a century ago.