Tsarukian Urges Regime Change as Tensions Escalate
Friday, February 13th, 2015
Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian
ARF Calls for Calm and National Unity
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
YEREVAN–The war of words escalated in Armenia Friday as two one-time
allies, President Serzh Sarkisian and the Prosperous Armenia Party
leader Gagik Tsarukian, publicly attacked each other with the latter
calling for immediate regime change after the president lashed out on
Thursday and relieved Tsarukian from his post in the National Security
Council.
Responding to the president’s unusual remarks during the Republican
Party of Armenia’s executive council session on Thursday, during which
Sarkisian called Tsarukian’s political activities a “circus,” calling
him ignorant and incapable of leading, the Prosperous Armenia Party’s
leader called on the citizens of Armenia to mobilize and take to the
streets and change the current regime through early presidential
elections.
“I am taking up the gauntlet and am going to fight till the victory,”
said Tsarukian at an emergency meeting with senior PAP officials. “A
new situation has surfaced since yesterday and it requires a solution.
I believe that the only solution is a complete regime change through
early presidential elections,”
Tsarukian said that his remarks were directed at the people of Armenia
and not at one individual. This was in contrast to Sarkisian’s
statements Thursday, where he claimed that his remarks were directed
at one person: “a pseudo-political phenomenon called Gagik Tsarukian.”
The apparent war declared by the two powerful political figures in
Armenia has escalated the political turmoil and threatens the fragile
domestic situation in the country, which continues to be threatened by
attack from Azerbaijan and aggravated tensions along the border.
In his remarks, Sarkisian leveraged his executive powers to direct
various state institutions to investigate alleged tax evasion and
criminal conduct by Tsarukian. In his turn, Tsarukian welcomed the
investigation and said he would expose the Sarkisian regime’s actions,
which have resulted in the growth of Armenia’s foreign debt and has
forced Armenian citizens to abandon their homeland. He also accused
Sarkisian and his supporters of stealing “billions of dollars” from
the people
What sparked this tension was Tsarukian’s remarks last week at a
conference of non-ruling party members where he called for regime
change and accused Sarkisian of using the upcoming Constitutional
reforms as mechanism to continue his rule and ensure that his party
remains in power. Earlier this week, Artak Khachatrian, a member of
parliament from Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party was beaten,
kidnapped and then dumped on the street. PAP officials accused the
government of staging the attack.
In his remarks Friday, Tsarukian alleged that Sarkisian had offered
him the ceremonial presidency envisioned under the new constitution in
return for his and his party’s support of the reforms being advanced
by the regime. Tsarukian said that he “categorically” rejected the
president’s “anti-state” proposal reiterating his claim that the
reform process was a means for the authorities to remain in power.
Following his statement, Tsarukian, who did not specify a date for a
public rally, met with former president Levon Ter-Petrosian and the
leader of the Heritage party Raffi Hovannisian to discuss next steps
in their campaign to overthrow the regime.
Meanwhile, speaking with Yerkir.am Friday, the political
representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau Armen
Rustamian warned that the recent political tensions have entered a new
and dangerous stage and called for national unity in the face of
growing tension on Armenia’s borders and the upcoming centennial of
the Armenian Genocide.
“The growing political debate is entering a new stage of heightened
intolerance, personal attacks, and dangerous confrontations. This
greatly undermines the security of both the country and its people,”
said Rustamian.
He went on to say that the recent statements of both the Prosperous
Armenia Party and the Republican Party confirm the ARF’s grave
concerns about the political landscape of the country. He stressed
that the separation of business and politics and the proper
implementation of the rule of law are necessary in the social and
political life of Armenia.
“In these difficult and dangerous times full of both internal and
external challenges, socio-economic problems and a tense border
situation, each of us has the responsibility to approach these issues
in a sober, mutually tolerant, and highly political manner. Today,
when our borders are under constant enemy attack and we as a nation
prepare to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, we are
all required to show the world that we are united as a people. We [the
ARF-D] are convinced that the present tensions and conflict are not in
the best interest of our state and nation. We instead call for wisdom,
calm and unity,” concluded Rustamian.
This quickly unfolding scenario in Armenia threatens the tenuous calm
in the country. Neither Sarkisian nor Tsarukian have the right to
speak about the other’s amassed wealth, because both men, who not long
ago drank from the same cup, have leveraged their vast resources to
“win” elections and both are responsible for the dire socio-economic
situation that is dragging the people of Armenia to ruin.
Rustamian’s call for calm and national unity is prudent and welcome.
The ruling regime and the president must understand that they cannot
intimidate factions or individuals who are in opposition. At the same
time, opposition forces that are seeking change and often speak in the
name of Armenia’s population, must abandon the tired rhetoric of
demanding regime change and actually put forth viable alternatives
that clearly outline their vision for change and set them apart from
that of the regime they want to topple.
In the end, the people of Armenia remain the victims of this ongoing
power plays. Sarkisian and Tsarukian publically calling each other
thieves is not going to provide relief to the lay Armenian citizen who
long ago has lost hope for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
that the current Constitution of Armenia claims to guarantee.