Before the constitutional amendments referendum day, oppositionists were promising that “November 27 is going to be the last day for the authorities”, then the authorities’ “beginning of the end”. After this, oppositionists started to express their point of views about a synthesis of activities which will lead up to the promised but unsuccessful change of power.
During the past 20-25 days, the Marxist political party was removed from the “18+8+1” party; the relations between Shavarsh Kocharyan and the opposition are not going too well lately. Does this mean that the opposition has started to carry out its activities and is getting more energy to do that? According to leader of the “Hayrenik” political party Petros Makeyan, the synthesis or filtration started way before November 27 when some political figures were saying “no” to the constitutional amendments referendum or simply “boycotting”; as for the rest of the political figures, they were obligated by the authorities to spread the “yes” propaganda. “That was the base for filtration. A border was set: on one side, you had the people saying “no” and boycotting, on the other side you had the ones obligated to say “yes”,” says Petros Makeyan. He also states something that happened before the referendum in regard to the opposition’s synthesis. According to Makeyan, until the referendum, Paruyr Hayrikyan was considered to be an oppositionist; however, “he made it clear on that day that he is saying “yes” to the amendments.” “There were many political figures in the opposition. We also knew that there were some among the boycotters that were like mines which haven’t been blown up yet,” says the leader of the “Hayrenik” political party and adds that those “mines” are starting to work or are cleared out by the opposition. “That is what filtration is all about. That process ended on November 27,” says P. Makeyan. Basically, is the opposition sure that there are no mines now? It turns out that it is not that sure. “I think the opposition doesn’t really pay attention to that. The main forces that see the danger facing the country, plan out their activities and the flow goes; those small mines can not falter the process. That is why filtration has come to an end,” says leader of the party as he expresses his opinion of the possible “mines” in the opposition. According to Makeyan, a part of the opposition is the so-called waiting side; basically, the ones who are in favor of the evolutionary way of doing things and suggest waiting; the other side-the second group of the opposition-believes that the country is in danger and that we must free ourselves from “this criminal group” soon. P. Makeyan assures that that second group is coming together and whoever is left out, well, that is just another way of filtration. As for the announcement made by Sh. Kocharyan, claiming that the opposition put an end to starting a revolution through its activities, Mr. Makeyan assures that the revolution is not over, the revolution is just beginning. “The fight has just begun. It is only in the first stage and people who think that it has been buried and gone have either mistaken that funeral with someone else’s or they have been told to say that. We are just starting the process,” says leader of the party, who is also of the opinion that Sh. Kocharyan had to at least not say a word after all this and doesn’t understand why he is so active recently. In Makeyan’s words, the people have taken part in only the first stage of events-the boycott. Now we are entering the second stage which, according to Makeyan, the people will take part in. “If the people participate and lose, then we can consider the revolution buried,” he says. The leader of the “Hayrenik” political party believes that the opposition matured during this time and the structure that is going to be formed-the committee-must mature and the people must feel the necessity for that committee. “Today, we feel that there is a necessity for a committee. But it is like a child that is born after nine months. If the child is born six or eight months old, that child doesn’t live,” he says and adds that first and foremost, we must form a representative group consisting of the people. There have to be representatives from all over the country in Yerevan and they must create the body-Armenia’s council of citizens and that council must form the committee. The committee’s work is being done by the coordinating group of the “17+1” party. According to Makeyan, as of today, the opposition is forming representative groups all around the republic. “The committee is going to be a serious structure. It has to be the alternative power,” says Makeyan. As for the talks going on about the Karabagh peace settlement in the near future, P. Makeyan first of all thinks that the Karabagh conflict is just an excuse for the authorities to prolong their power; that the authorities have put that conflict in a labyrinth; that the Western world simply did not pay attention to the “criminal” acts that took place on November 27 due to its cosmopolitan interests. According to him, the Karabagh conflict can be a good motive for change of power which the oppositionists, including him, are not going to allow. “We are going to prevent the next state overturn in Armenia,” he assures. Makeyan claims that the opposition has made a decision for the Karabagh conflict, which is the following: “The Armenians of Karabagh must live, work and carry out activities freely, be secured, Karabagh must correspond to international norms and laws. The opposition must do all it can so that Armenians can live. As to what kind of process that will be, you will see the problems when you come to power.” That’s all. .