“Hayots Ashkhar” insists that demanding ministerial posts is tantamount to demanding to become part of the government. “But if [opposition leader] Raffi Hovannisian, indeed, wants to remain an opposition, he must at best seek to assume control of certain agencies that have supervisory functions. The matter may primarily concern the Audit Chamber that he seems to have mentioned. This is a body that is not affiliated with the government. Naturally, in such conditions forming a coalition is out of the question.”
“Aravot” quotes opposition Armenian National Congress lawmaker Lyudmila Sargsian as criticizing Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian for showing no succession of logical steps that could help promote the ‘people’s victory’. “The policies adopted by Hovannisian are unclear to us. It is a great mistake when a post-election struggle turns into a pre-election struggle. Hovannisian’s correspondence with [President] Serzh Sarkisian and the demands that he has set forth are unrealistic… It will turn into a political bargaining and we will again see people’s deep disappointment,” she says.
“Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun” suggests that opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian’s tough post-election struggle has turned into a ‘delicate tango’, which is a partner dance and needs no third party. “The odd one here is the people that are slowly pulling out,” claims the paper. “Those who think that by conducting negotiations Hovannisian will legitimize [president Serzh] Sarkisian are mistaken. On the contrary, Sarkisian will make Hovannisian illegitimate as opposition leader by drawing him into these talks. And this is an irreversible process.”
“Hraparak” notices that political tensions in post-election Armenia are building up as the official date for the presidential inauguration of Sarkisian due on April 9 is drawing closer. “The seemingly calm situation could turn into a storm without a matter of hours and wreak havoc [across the country],” the paper comments, taking note of the recent threat openly aired by Razmik Zohrabian, a deputy head of the ruling Republican Party, that the police would react to any opposition behavior similar to the one displayed during street protests in 2008 when calls for civil disobedience were made. “We, of course, have our own view on the 2008 post-election events, which essentially differs from that of Zohrabian. We do not consider calls for civil disobedience to be armed resistance, but regard it as a way of political struggle acceptable across the world.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)
“Aravot” quotes opposition Armenian National Congress lawmaker Lyudmila Sargsian as criticizing Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian for showing no succession of logical steps that could help promote the ‘people’s victory’. “The policies adopted by Hovannisian are unclear to us. It is a great mistake when a post-election struggle turns into a pre-election struggle. Hovannisian’s correspondence with [President] Serzh Sarkisian and the demands that he has set forth are unrealistic… It will turn into a political bargaining and we will again see people’s deep disappointment,” she says.
“Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun” suggests that opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian’s tough post-election struggle has turned into a ‘delicate tango’, which is a partner dance and needs no third party. “The odd one here is the people that are slowly pulling out,” claims the paper. “Those who think that by conducting negotiations Hovannisian will legitimize [president Serzh] Sarkisian are mistaken. On the contrary, Sarkisian will make Hovannisian illegitimate as opposition leader by drawing him into these talks. And this is an irreversible process.”
“Hraparak” notices that political tensions in post-election Armenia are building up as the official date for the presidential inauguration of Sarkisian due on April 9 is drawing closer. “The seemingly calm situation could turn into a storm without a matter of hours and wreak havoc [across the country],” the paper comments, taking note of the recent threat openly aired by Razmik Zohrabian, a deputy head of the ruling Republican Party, that the police would react to any opposition behavior similar to the one displayed during street protests in 2008 when calls for civil disobedience were made. “We, of course, have our own view on the 2008 post-election events, which essentially differs from that of Zohrabian. We do not consider calls for civil disobedience to be armed resistance, but regard it as a way of political struggle acceptable across the world.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)