Lragir.am discusses some analysts’ belief that there are no real opposition parties in Armenia’s newly elected parliament. The publication agrees that Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) should not be taken seriously anymore and notes that Edmon Marukian’s Bright Armenia party is regarded by some as a “puppet opposition.” “The issue of a new kind of opposition, a counterweight to the government is really pressing,” it says. But it insists that the former ruling Republican Party (HHK) is too discredited and “unconstructive” to be the answer to the problem.
“Aravot” tries to explain the failure of another party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), to win any parliament seats. The paper says that while there may be something “romantic” about Dashnaktsutyun’s anti-Turkish nationalist rhetoric the party’s close ties to the former Armenian governments have alienated many voters. “The party should have tried to preserve its positive image which took shape among a certain part of the electorate during [former President Levon] Ter-Petrosian’s rule,” it says in an editorial. “In this latest election campaign Dashnaktsutyun revived its socialist creed, criticizing government plans to cut poverty benefits and downsize the state apparatus. But it’s impossible to restore within two weeks a reputation that has been tarnished for the past 20 years. Having no deputies in the National Assembly could actually be useful for the party in terms of rethinking its activities and cooperating with other nationalist forces active in Armenia.”
“Zhoghovurd” is scathing about a demonstration that was held in Yerevan on Tuesday by about hundred supporters of former President Robert Kocharian demanding his release from prison. The paper says the protest was organized by a hitherto unknown group called the Armenian National Alliance. It cites some representatives of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team as saying that the group’s leader, Armen Minasian, sought to cooperate with their movement shortly after the velvet revolution. It also notes that Kocharian’s younger son voiced support for the protest on social media.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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