RULING PARTY LAUGHS OFF FRESH ELECTION TALK
Ruzanna Stepanian

/1972677.html
02.03.2010

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) on Tuesday laughed off
opposition claims about the impending downfall of President Serzh
Sarkisian and holding of fresh presidential and parliamentary elections
in the country.

Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian predicted such a scenario during
a rally held by his Armenian National Congress (HAK) in Yerevan the
previous evening. He said popular anger and external challenges facing
Armenia will soon force Sarkisian to step down.

"These were the latest fairy tales from the first president," Razmik
Zohrabian, a deputy chairman of the HHK, told RFE/RL, reacting to
Ter-Petrosian’s speech.

"In reality, there are no grounds in the country for pre-term
elections. This is their wishful thinking, their dream aimed at
buoying people supporting them," he said, adding that the HAK is in
fact preparing for the next, regular presidential and parliamentary
elections due in 2013 and 2012 respectively.

Zohrabian also claimed that only up to 4,000 people attended Monday’s
rally that marked the second anniversary of the bloody suppression of
anti-government protests staged by Ter-Petrosian following a disputed
presidential election.

"What kind of a popular revolt it is when you hold a rally timed to
coincide with [the events of] March 1 … and only that many people
show up?" he said. "The HAK is not a [political] factor anymore. Any
other political force can gather that many people."

Ter-Petrosian already predicted in March 2009 that Sarkisian and his
governing coalition "will destroy themselves" in the next few months
after failing to prevent a "drastic fall in living standards" which
he said will result from the global economic crisis. "I am deeply
convinced that the country is simply descending into an abyss,"
he said at the time.