Armenia’s choice: Trump-style populist or power-hungry president?

Mikayel Zolyan

 

On April 2 Armenians will vote in a parliamentary election, a major step in the country’s transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system.

The process, which began with a constitutional referendum in December 2015, will be complete in April 2018 when the incumbent president, Serzh Sargsyan, leaves office and executive power is transferred to the prime minister, who will be appointed by parliament.

The upcoming election will turn Armenia’s parliament into its most powerful legislative force, making the country something of an outlier among post-Soviet countries, most of which have strong presidential systems.

Do Not Insult Our Intelligence Anymore

Vartan Matiossian

It has been a constant since the mid-1990s to expect an election marred by fraud in Armenia. If the fraud has not been visible (ballot stuffing and all), it has just been of the invisible type (I pay you this amount of money and you go and vote for me). The claims of fraud, justified or not, have ended sometimes in violent ways; one may remember the storming of the National Assembly building and the beating of its speaker in 1996 or, even more unjustified, the death of 10 people (eight demonstrators and two policemen) on March 1, 2008 in the repression after ten days of peaceful demonstrations.

We will not comment on the events in Armenia after the presidential election of February 18, 2013, as they are still evolving. Suffice it to say that they showed a very strong performance by the main opposition candidate, Raffi Hovannisian, who officially obtained 36.75 percent of the votes, against 58.64 of the incumbent, President Serge Sargsian. Denunciations of fraud have been made—we assume that, justified or not, there may be some grounds for them--and heavily crowded meetings at Freedom Square have followed, including the support of some opposition forces that had neither participated in the election not thrown their support behind Hovannisian, namely the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Armenian National Congress.

People have started to fill mailboxes with their conspiracy-theory rants, as the one who had sent the following morning-after pill:

Raffí Hovannisián: “Los armenios en nuestro propio país tienen que ser liberados”

Es el quinto día de la huelga de hambre de Raffí Hovannisián en la Plaza de la Libertad. Armenio nacido en los Estados Unidos, es ex ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de la República de Armenia y líder del partido “Herencia”, a la vez que uno de sus diputados en la Asamblea Nacional. Sus típicos bigotes han desaparecido y se nota que ha bajado considerablemente de peso, pero aparece en forma y sereno, como si practicara meditación. Hay unas 50 personas deambulando en los alrededores, charlando entre ellas acerca de política u otros temas, echándole una mirada de tanto en tanto para ver cómo se mantiene. Encaramado sobre su banco de parque, con una manta tejida tricolor que sostiene su espalda, toma agua embotellada, mientras sus seguidores, famosos músicos folklóricos entre ellos, se acercan para expresar su admiración. Es cordial para todos quienes lo saludan y se levanta de su asiento para abrazarse con quienes conoce de cerca. Algunos de ellos le dicen que no querrían verlo recurrir a su forma de protesta. Responde, sonriente, que la voluntad del pueblo armenio debe escucharse. Para quienes viven en Armenia, sus convicciones y aspiraciones para el estado armenio son conocidas y respetadas. Pero su mensaje aún no ha resonado con la fuerza necesaria para que los armenios de la Diáspora lo perciban.

La siguiente entrevista con “The Armenian Weekly” se realizó en el sitio de protesta de la Plaza de la Libertad, en las primeras horas de la tarde del 20 de marzo de 2011. 
[La huelga de hambre culminó el 30 de marzo. V.M.].