“The second ‘victory’ won by Serzh Sargsyan doesn’t mean at all that he is stronger today than during his first term in office. On the contrary, I have reasonable grounds to claim that he is much weaker today than he has been over the past five years, and that he will gradually become weaker,” Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first President of the Republic of Armenia, stated at a rally in Freedom Square. www.aravot.am inquired of representatives of different political forces whether there were tendencies toward the strengthening or the weakening of Serzh Sargsyan’s position. Arsen Hambardzumyan, the alternate representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Supreme Body, stated in response to our question: “Taking into account the electoral mechanisms and factors that impact elections and guarantee the victory of the ruling political force, in this case the head of state, from this perspective, we must assert that the President of the Republic of Armenia hasn’t become stronger after the latest election. He will be a president who gradually becomes weaker. The explanation is obvious; the president is elected for a five-year term, and his position weakens every day, particularly given the fact that one can see no intention of making radical changes as yet. On the contrary, we have reasonable grounds to claim that basically no serious conclusion has been drawn from the violations committed during the election and the problems raised by the opposition.” Armen Martirosyan, the deputy leader of the Heritage Party, thinks that S. Sargsyan has become weak mostly because of “not being elected and defending the interests of the system. Taking into account the fraud committed during the election and the fact that Serzh Sargsyan is de facto the president; naturally, he is basically a weak president, since he doesn’t have legitimacy.” Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan doesn’t agree with the above-mentioned claim. He explained: “Merely political exploitations underlie such statements. Thus, Levon Ter-Petrossian tries to convince his supporters that the government’s position is weak. Whereas as compared to the previous elections, this year’s election was peaceful and controllable; besides, there was a positive response from the international community. All this has strengthened S. Sargsyan’s position as president; after this election, he will be able to decide his future actions more freely and independently. Therefore, after overcoming the 2008 crisis, the president’s position has been strengthening so far. I am more than convinced that this social opposition is the product of S. Sargsyan’s presidency, which is a result of liberalization of the political system and is in the government’s interests; as a result of that checks and balances are created.” Artak Zakaryan, the chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Relations Standing Commission, stated that this statement of Levon Ter-Petrossian “shows that he is under delusion, and that our oppositionists continue to assess political processes inadequately. The fact of the matter is that one should be convinced in the opposite that the second term will make it possible to solve more essential and important problems. And problems are economic problems, and those are an inalienable part of our countries’ priorities, which are the focus of the government’s attention, and every project will aim at solving the citizen’s social problems. And I relate politicizing social issues to the city council election, which will die away soon.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
