In the post-election period, a set of contradicting processes have been taking place in parallel in the internal political life of the Republic of Armenia. Raffi Hovhannisyan is carrying out the hello revolution, demanding that the results of the presidential election be declared null and Serzh Sargsyan resign, while Serzh Sargsyan, the incumbent President of the Republic of Armenia, is receiving more and more congratulations on his election as president and celebrating his victory. www.aravot.am tried to find out during a conversation with experts whether they saw any ways out of this internal political situation. Will R. Hovhannisyan nonetheless have his demands be met? Tatul Hakobyan, a journalist and an expert, recalled the experience of the former “contentious” elections when in 1996, Vazgen Manukyan took to the streets, in 2003, Stepan Demirchyan’s demonstrations lasting for a year ended in a fight, and in 2008, the events of March 1 took place. Then the expert suggested 3 solutions. “Serzh Sargsyan hands in his resignation, which I rule out. Such a thing cannot happen. Another option, Serzh Sargsyan and Raffi Hovhannisyan reach a solution in a civilized way. Their first meeting was such, which is praiseworthy and can create a new political way, as opposed to the bloody way between the opposition and the government of the previous years. There is one opposition force today. There is no Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) or the Armenian National Congress (ANC); they have become quite weak. Today Raffi Hovhannisyan and the people gathered around him are in the spotlight. The third way is that Raffi Hovhannisyan holds rallies, and they don’t yield any results, as it has happened a few times. People disperse to their homes. My impression is that the best solution, as a result of which both the government and Raffi Hovhannisyan will get out of the internal political impasse with dignity, is that a new parliamentary election is held on the condition that it is not rigged. We will have a parliament, which reflects the perceptions and desires of Armenian citizens and which will counterbalance the executive power and won’t allow S.
Sargsyan and the Cabinet to do whatever they like.” Political scientist Armen Minasyan thinks that the way out is to take the legal path and notes at the same time: “The civilized way out of any situation is the legal path. It is a different matter whether the Constitution and legislation of the country provide for solutions in such cases, in different situations. In my opinion, both the Constitution and the legislation of the country provide for those solutions. It is a different matter that not only Raffi Hovhannisyan, but also participants in other political forces avoid taking that path. I wouldn’t say that the reason is trust, since it would be possible to talk about trust only when all the other instruments were exhausted. For example, if they had poll-watchers at all polling places, recorded the violations, based on which they would take steps, and there wouldn’t be justice after that. In that case, one could speak of trust. Whereas they didn’t have poll-watchers at all polling places, violations are not always based on proofs, and they haven’t always taken the legal path. I don’t think that Serzh Sargsyan will resign. As for the results of the hello revolution, I think that it will yield results, anyway; it depends on what we consider as results. Politics is a possibility of compromises. It depends on whom R. Hovhannisyan will have a dialogue with and what he will demand, and depending on that, what results he will achieve. R. Hovhannisyan’s language essentially differs from the processes that have taken place before. I think there will be compromises, and it is hard for me to tell what will be the result.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
