As the Armenian political crisis escalated during the past two weeks and the country was under global media spotlight, many foreign news agencies and journalists were dispatched to Armenia to cover the developments. Over 100 foreign journalists were accredited to cover the May 1 vote, which eventually failed to elect a Prime Minister. A second round of voting will be held May 8.
President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, who took office April 9, was greatly involved in trying to de-escalate the crisis and mediate dialogue between the parties. Sarkissian numerously called for constructive dialogue and constitutional solution.
British online newspaper The Independent had an interview with President Sarkissian ahead of the May 8 election.
The president told The Independent that he often reverts to logic models for political guidance, taking into account that the president is one of the scientists behind Tetris. However, Sarkissian says there was little in this crisis, or in his words in the “democratic change”, that he could have predicted with math.
“Humans are not machines,” he tells The Independent. “They are much more complex.”
“It was quite hard work bringing the sides together,” says President Sarkissian. “I did things that are not usually expected of a president, such as going into the crowds. But you couldn’t do your job by simply sitting in an office”, Sarkissian said, referring to his surprise April 21 visit to the heavily overcrowded Republic Square in Yerevan amid raging protests when he walked into a crowd of few thousands to negotiate with opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan.
Many protesters voiced suspicions regarding the British citizenship issue of the President, which was a subject of doubts and concerns from the opposition before Sarkissian took office. But later on April 27, Pashinyan himself released a statement saying that he had met with the President who showed him documents proving the renunciation of British citizenship.
President Sarkissian told The Independent that he enjoyed the “fantastic” experience of visiting the square. He described his relations with Pashinyan as “constructive”.
During the April 21 meeting in the central square of Yerevan, which had become the main rally site of the opposition, the President told Pashinyan he would arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Sargsyan the next day.
“The one thing I emphasised was that this must be decided by dialogue and within the constitution,” the Armenian president said.
The opposition leader and then-Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan eventually met in the highly anticipated televised meeting on April 22. The meeting lasted only about three minutes, and the PM walked out – accusing the opposition leader for blackmailing the state.
Hours later Pashinyan and two other fellow opposition MPs were detained by police.
The Armenian president told The Independent that the incident was not a development that he welcomed. Sarkissian says he responded by arranging a meeting with PM Sargsyan and other leading officials the next day.
“Confidential meetings will remain confidential, but you can make your judgments from the results,” Sarkissian told The Independent.
“Straight from the meeting, the deputy prime minister went with a warrant to release the parliamentarians. And a couple of hours later, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned.”
“We are all learning, and I’m ready to get involved again if things go wrong,” he says. “I’m ready to stand between police and protesters if I have to.” “Mr. Pashinyan has shown himself to be a very talented politician, with an acute sense of public opinion,” he says.
“But running the government provides a completely a different challenge. He will have to provide answers to all the questions he has asked. And people will have to realise that not everything that went before was black, and not everything will be white tomorrow.”
The President said he is confident that Armenia is finally heading for less choppier waters.