Analyst Armen Aghayan: Times Of Oppositionists Lacking Ideological C

ANALYST ARMEN AGHAYAN: TIMES OF OPPOSITIONISTS LACKING IDEOLOGICAL CONTENT HAVE ALREADY PASSED

Noyan Tapan
Feb 16, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. There are preconditions
for national-political ideological change of generations in
Armenia. Political analyst Armen Aghayan reported at the February
16 press conference presenting an expert report under the title
Armenia: First Post-electoral Year: Developments and Changes in Public
Consciousness. According to the analyst, in the 2008 elections and
post-electoral developments the "12-year opposition lacking ideological
content finally passed away." "Lacking ideological content, as it
refused to formulate any ideological alternative to the foreign,
domestic or economic policy of the authorities, it only accused
the latters of various crimes, mainly, of seizing the power, and
declared restoration of legal power in the country its only goal,"
A. Aghayan said.

In his opinion, already in the past parliamentary elections it became
clear that the times of oppositionists lacking ideological content
have already passed: "One thing is clear: the opposition of the new
kind that cannot become fully-fledged without a serious ideological
and organization basis, will have a greater possibility of carrying
out a power shift," he said.

As A. Aghayan predicted it, from 2009 political fermentations will
proceed not so much over the problem of power shift as the problem of
"opposition shift." And the analyst expects nothing from the Armenian
National Congress March 1 rally. According to him, if the opposition
failed to carry out a power shift in 2008 February-March, it will
especially fail to do it in 2009 March. In A. Aghayan’s opinion,
the current opposition has a problem of keeping its positions in
the political sphere and succeeding in the forthcoming parliamentary
elections.