If any politician hasn’t stated yet that he is going to participate in the upcoming presidential election, can any political force claim that this politician is its candidate? It seems to me that such a statement is premature. However, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) does that very thing – it says that Ter-Petrossian is its candidate, but it adds that the latter has not made up his mind yet. Certainly, every citizen can express his wishes on personal level, one can say, for example that he wants Israyel Hakobkokhyan to be announced. However, it is not the position of a political force. It is one thing to gas that one wants something and it is a different thing to state on behalf of the party that their candidate is such and such. It is obvious that in the case of the Congress, it is done to prevent various rumors and intrigues. However, the state of uncertainty that can theoretically extend to another two months can, on the one hand, conceal a certain secret and raise the interest in this particular political force, but, on the other hand, given the factual lack of cement (represented by Ter-Petrossian), it can disrupt the ranks of the ANC, which are not that robust as they are.
When representatives of the Congress’s party state that discussions on that matter continue in the ANC, they are, mildly speaking, not honest. Knowing the first president’s character, I can assume with 99% probability that the issue of nominating or not nominating Ter-Petrossian is not discussed in the ANC, moreover, the first president rather abruptly prevents any serious talk of his entourage on that matter saying rather dryly, “I will tell you, when I decide.” Certainly, it is just my assumption; I don’t have any information on the Congress back room. By the way, I think that roughly the same situation is in the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP).
The logic is probably the following – if I am the nominee, if I am to take on that burden, I will be the first to receive all the possible blows, then why should I discuss it with anyone? However, in my opinion, our political forces (not only the ANC) have a bad sense of timing. If there is no 100% confidence that the party leader will become the presidential candidate, one should work on plan B not now, but at least one year before the election. Guess, Ter-Petrossian is not sure that he will announce his candidacy; he should have chosen someone from his entourage who should have been publicized from the beginning of this year convincing the society and comrades-in-arms that he was the preferable successor. No one does it in our country. Admittedly, in the case of the PAP, the government “came to the rescue” “putting forward” Vartan Oskanian’s name. Oh yes, I forgot it is just a legal issue.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
