The leader of the opposition is the Heritage Party today, although everyone had been convinced before the election that the leader of the opposition was the Armenian National Congress (ANC). Today Karen Kocharyan, a political technologist, shared such an idea with www.aravot.am. www.aravot.am tried to get ANC coordinator Levon Zurabyan’s comment on the political technologist’s opinion. Mr. Zurabyan firstly said that they couldn’t comment on everyone’s opinion, then added, “I don’t know him, but he is a real technologist then.” In regard to the same technologist’s opinion that the ANC was not the leader anymore, since potential voters were already disappointed with that force, Levon Zurabyan said, “Another statement worthy of technologists.” www.aravot.am tried to hear also ANC member Davit Shahnazaryan’s opinion, but the latter refused to talk without hearing the question, reasoning that he would talk with mass media after the election.
And Karapet Rubinyan, a former member of the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) included in the Heritage Party list for proportional representation, was happy with the opinion of the political technologist that the Heritage Party was the leader of the opposition, “I am happy with such an opinion, because I am on the list of the Heritage Party, but I cannot say, it is hard to say how grounded that opinion is. Certainly, the ANC has its own problems – it carries out an operation, which I call To Defeat the Republican Party Through the Prosperous Armenia Party. Every one of us can have his opinion on how realistic it is, but the overall background is not positive. I don’t know political technologist Karen Kocharyan, perhaps taking into account that fact, I would say that the Heritage Party that refuses any alliance with all wings of the government is more opposition, than the Congress, which has been engaged in such a love affair.”
As for the political technologist’s conclusion about voters’ disappointment with the ANC, Karapet Rubinyan said, “If we consider the ANC in the format of the national movement, it was really a national movement in 2007-2008. And today it is not that ANC at all and it is not a national movement at all. Even the promises that the very election campaign will turn into the continuation of that struggle are not realized for objective and subjective reasons. The reason is the parliamentary election that has its specificities. One of those is that political forces enter for ideological competition and not that a united front is formed against the PANM. And the subjective one is that an idea has been put forward that one can defeat one wing of the government through the other and succeed.”
Nelly BABAYAN
