Armenian daily says party leader to be used as "Trojan horse" in May polls
Haykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
17 Mar 07
Text of Ruzan Azizyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak
on 17 March entitled "Gagik Tsarukyan is a Trojan horse"
1As a rule, vote rigging during Armenian elections begins from the
public themselves rigging their votes.
The public rig their own votes under the impression of advocacy. The
best example of this is the 1998 presidential election. The targeted
advocacy resulted in the "imposed" public opinion that there were
allegedly two candidates, Robert Kocharyan [currently Armenian
President] and Karen Demirchyan, and that others had no opportunity to
win. The result was that a huge part of Armenians voted for the worst
instead of the best. These people in fact voted against, and not for,
they made a choice between the bad and the worse. Those who were, for
example, on [leader of the National Self-Determination Association]
Paruyr Hayrikyan’s side voted "against Demirchyan" and in favour of
Kocharyan. In the same manner other people voted for Demirchyan "so
that Kocharyan does not win". These people would otherwise have voted
for David Shahnazaryan [of the former ruling Armenian Pan-National
Movement], [leader of the dissolved Liberal Democratic Party, Ramgavar
Azadagan] Vigen Khachatryan, [New Path Party leader Ashot] Bleyan,
[National Democratic Union leader Vazgen] Manukyan, and [late
Communist Party leader] Sergey Badalyan.
If such an attitude had not been present, Demirchyan may not have
reached the second round. The same could happen to Kocharyan. Why did
such extremity of votes occur? What kind of an issue was being solved?
We think that Karen Demirchyan’s candidacy was put forward especially
to ensure Robert Kocharyan’s victory in the 1998 election. The
calculation was precise. In reality, Kocharyan would not have won. The
winners would have been either [MP] Vazgen Manukyan or Sergey Badalyan
who would have fought for their victories, if we remember those
days. Demirchyan was brought into the game only in order to become the
real winner and be silent when the Central Electoral Commission
declared Kocharyan as the winner. What could the 12 per cent for
Manukyan and the 11 per cent for Badalyan do after that?
We do not state that Karen Demirchyan took this role consciously. On
the contrary, the ones who pushed him towards the election struggle
had considered his way of thinking and had calculated what his
reaction would be.
Similar developments have taken place during all elections. While such
advocacy was possible in 1998 when there was one [TV] channel that was
not controlled by the president, today it is simple. We think that
[Prosperous Armenia party leader] Gagik Tsarukyan will be the Trojan
horse on which [Defence Minister] Serzh Sargsyan will take the post of
Armenian president. Tsarukyan himself is not aware of having such a
mission. Today his role consists of stealing votes from the
opposition, which he has been coping with so far. The most objective
surveys of public opinion prove that many people who want to get rid
of the current authorities are ready to vote for Tsarukyan. What is
the logic? It takes a slight look at the proportional list of the
Prosperous Armenia party to know whom the party belongs to. The list
includes heads of departments of the president’s Cabinet, the
president’s personal assistant, the father of the president’s press
secretary, Shamiram Aghabekyan. Thus, some think that Serzh Sargsyan’s
path to power can be blocked only with the help of Tsarukyan. That
manner of thinking is naive. Kocharyan awards Serzh Sargsyan and his
team medals and titles. If he is to make a decision when there is a
conflict between the Prosperous Armenia Party and the Republican Party
of Armenia he favours the Republican Party.
It is another issue that Tsarukyan has been allowed to think that he
is entitled to take over the government. There will be a moment when
he will be told to remain in his place. It is unimaginable for Ishkhan
Zaqaryan [of the Prosperous Armenia party] or any other Prosperous
Armenia Party member in the National Assembly to speak against Serzh
Sargsyan. They are the type of people who are afraid of Sargsyan’s
loud voice. It would be nice if each person voted according to his own
conscience and without deciding ahead of time who has a chance and who
does not.
PS. There is a theoretical version that in case of the realization of
a plan by the government, Serzh Sargsyan might not become Armenian
president. This is possible in case Robert Kocharyan decides to remain
the number one person after 2008, too. I am not sure whether Kocharyan
can take this step. I also know what consequence such assumptions may
bring forth. I will either be charged under the criminal code’s
"ribaldry" article or will be invited to the prosecutor’s office to
present documents. I have no documents and no mood either for this.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
