Armenia

Raffi Hovannisian, Opposition Protest Presidential Elections, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

RFE/RL and A1 Plus report that the U.S.-born first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Raffi Hovhannisian is refusing to vacate the offices of his Heritage Party in downtown Yerevan. Hovhannisian was locked out of his premises in March in what many consider to be an attack on the popular political figure in the run-up to the 2007 parliamentary elections. RFE/RL has comprehensive coverage of the latest turn of events.

Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian regained control over the headquarters of his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party on Monday only to be forced to resist fresh eviction orders from the government a few hours later.

Hovannisian and a group of his loyalists were refusing as of late evening to accept bailiffs’ orders to vacate the state-owned premises from which they were controversially evicted three months ago.

[…]

Relations between Hovannisian and the Armenian authorities seriously deteriorated last December after he sent an open letter to Kocharian which effectively implicated the Armenian leader in high-profile political murders and vote falsifications. Hovannisian accused the authorities earlier on Monday of systematically harassing Zharangutyun activists across Armenia and hampering the party’s activities.

“Both the police and National Security Service exert pressure on us, threatening to strip our members of their jobs, arrest and imprison them. That is having a certain psychological impact on people,” he told RFE/RL, adding that at least dozen of them have left Zharangutyun as a result.

The news item also says that Hovhannisian is prepared to team up with the recently ousted Speaker of Parliament, Artur Baghdasarian, who incurred the wrath of the Armenian President by recently implying that the 2003 Presidential Elections were falsified and that the Government’s geopolitical and domestic policies are following the wrong direction.

Finally, an opposition leader who is respected by most Armenians not only is prepared to work with others, but is also prepared to make a stand. A1 Plus says that Hovhannisian is still in his office, and in related news, RFE/RL said on Friday that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) is becoming increasingly concerned by the likely conduct of next year’s elections.

A top leader of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) has lashed out at Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian for reportedly creating a political party which he believes is intent on bribing its way into Armenia’s next parliament.

[…]

Markarian claimed that the Assembly for Armenia and other pro-establishment groups set up in recent months will primarily rely on vote bribes during the legislative polls. He complained that “the criminal underworld is also given a role during elections” held in Armenia.

[…] The Iranian-born politician further reiterated his critical assessment of the state of affairs in Armenia, singling out endemic government corruption. He claimed that the country’s “entire state apparatus” has made sure that officials affiliated with Dashnaktsutyun have no “real possibility” to tackle the problem.

Looks like things are heating up politically, and we’ve only seen the half of it. Next year’s parliamentary elections will be the last chance for Armenia to set itself back on the right path of development. If it doesn’t, we’re all in trouble so I can only hope that Hovhannisian’s stand will prove to be an example for others to follow. The alternative is too alarming to consider.

Perhaps something will now slowly start to change, but most Armenians tell me that they won’t. Unfortunately, Raffi Hovhannisian appears to be one of the few Armenians willing to stand up in the face of increasing government attempts to silence any critical voices despite numerous attempts by the authorities to to intimidate and discredit his family.

Incidently, I interviewed Hovhannisian in September, the transcript of which can be found here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 at 1:17 am and is filed under Caucasus, Diaspora, Elections, Politics, Democracy, Armenia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.