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Press Review


Vahan Hovannisian, a leader of the Dashnaktsutyun party, tells “Hayots Ashkhar” that cooperation between Armenia’s leading opposition forces is “both possible and necessary.” “I have no doubts that that there must be a certain model of consolidation,” he says. “But it must not be done around one leader, like it has been done by the [ruling] coalition. We must not repeat that mistake. We must rally around the idea of clean elections and so on. If that happens, I’m sure that success will not be long in coming.” But, implies Hovannisian, Levon Ter-Petrosian and his Armenian National Congress (HAK) may stand in the way of opposition unity.

HAK coordinator Levon Zurabian tells “Kapital” that unlike opposition forces in Arab states, the HAK has until now acted in “complete international isolation.” “We have now brought the struggle to a point where we are dealing with a changed international context,” he says, adding that the Arab uprisings are creating “favorable conditions for the popular struggle waged by the Congress.” Zurabian also says strong attendance at the last HAK rally means that “we are moving forward with a correct strategy.”

In an interview with “168 Zham,” Razmik Zohrabian, an HHK deputy chairman, praises the recent agreement between President Serzh Sarkisian and the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). “The president must feel the united power of the coalition behind his back,” he says. Zohrabian says the BHK’s endorsement of Sarkisian’s reelection bid reduced “external threats” to Armenia.

Speaking to “Zhamanak,” Suren Abrahamian, a former interior minister now affiliated with the HAK, claims that the international community’s reaction to the 2008 post-election violence was muted because foreign powers wanted to have a weak government in Yerevan. “At some point, it was clear to us that [Western governments] have full information about what happened,” says Abrahamian. “But they needed a vulnerable regime scared of external forces and its people, with which they could do whatever they want.” He claims that elections held in Belarus and deemed illegitimate by the West are less fraudulent that the Armenian elections.

(Aghasi Yenokian)
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