Gradually the tense pre-election environment in Armenia is coming to its culmination. The opposition activists may be investigated or even arrested in the coming 10 days, as the government fears that the belief that people won’t go out into the streets will not come true.
The rallies of the opposition are getting more and more crowded, which seriously worries the government. The latter fear that certain “evil forces” may initiate a revolution in Armenia. In order to control the situation and prevent revolution, it’s necessary to control the inflow of money. On Monday, Armenia law-enforcement authorities accused two former government ministers staunchly opposed to the country’s leadership of illegally receiving and “laundering” money from Russia for subversive political purposes. The accusations came after officers of the National Security Service (NSS) searched and confiscated large amounts of cash from the Yerevan apartments of former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanyan and former Industrial Infrastructures Minister Vahan Shirkhanyan on Saturday. In an ensuing statement, the NSS said the sums were sent to them by Levon Markos, a Russian businessman of Armenian descent who fled Armenia in 2005 to avoid prosecution on fraud charges and, according to the security agency, is “pursuing some goals” in the run-up to the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The statement said Arzumanyan and Shirkhanyan met Markos during an April 24-26 visit to Moscow and received a total of $180,000 upon their return to Yerevan. The money was wired in several installments in the name of nine different individuals acting as “figureheads” for the two oppositionists, it added. The NSS did not specify how they were supposed to use the alleged financial aid, saying only that its officers found $55,400 in Arzumanyan’s apartment and $28,000 in Shirkhanyan’s. Both men admitted on Monday visiting Moscow late last month, but strongly denied receiving any financial aid from the fugitive businessman. They told that the NSS claims are aimed at suppressing an opposition movement which they launched last year to strive for regime change in Armenia. The small group called the Civic Resistance Movement is boycotting the elections. Arzumanyan, who had served as foreign minister from 1996-1998, claimed that he visited the Russian capital to attend the funeral of Russia’s former President Boris Yeltsin and did not meet Markos. “I have known Levon Markos since 1977 but we have not met in the last several years,” he said. “Serge Sarkisyan considers Levon Markos his number one enemy and is persecuting that man, having already seized his assets by fraudulent means,” added Arzumanyan. “He is simply trying to extend that animosity to his political opponents in Armenia … I have not engaged and will not engage in any illegal activity.” Shirkhanyan likewise denied meeting Markos or getting any money from the latter. “I have known Levon for 20 years,” he said. “That person provided huge assistance to Armenia during the Karabakh war. But I didn’t see him during my last trip to Moscow.” Shirkhanyan also said he has received a lump sum from other Moscow-based individuals. “I asked my friends and they sent $80,000 for my daughter’s wedding party and for renting office space for my [pro-Russian] non-governmental organization Shanghai Club of Armenia,” he said. Both Arzumanyan and Shirkhanyan were summoned to the NSS headquarters in Yerevan for questioning on Saturday. The latter was also interrogated by the former KGB on Monday. “The whole thing is designed to intimidate the opposition,” he charged afterwards. Neither man has been formally charged under an article of the Armenian Criminal Code that deals with attempts to “legalize revenues obtained by criminal means.” The intensive operations of the National Security Service over the past few months are evidence of the panic in the ruling elite of Armenia. In connection with the election, on the one hand, it is clear. On the other hand, it contradicts the nails of the propaganda of the ruling elite they have been trying to hammer in the heads of the Armenians all through the formal campaign and before it. Which are these? One of them is that the pro-government forces enjoy almost the absolute support of the society and their victory arouses no doubt, as Serge Sargsyan stated a few days ago, “no force will get more votes than the Republican Party.” In other words, if the prime minister meant the votes in a fair election, the government enjoys the support of the public. The other nail is that the same ruling elite are not accepted in the geopolitical centers of the world – Moscow, Washington, and Paris. The actions of the National Security Service are evidence to quite different moods of the government, because the “witch hunt” that the government started in the opposition does not coincide with what the elite maintains about international support, saying that the opposition has no chance. The problem is that the signs of the syndrome of a “global plot” have appeared in the government. For instance, the latest fresh example – the former ministers Vahan Shirkhanyan and Alexander Arzumanyan are suspected of money laundering. These suspicions are related to Levon Marcos, a citizen of Russia, who is known for his obvious dislike for the regime of Armenia. In other words, the Armenian government feels the danger of a political plot from Moscow, the same Moscow which is considered as almost the only and reliable international support for the elite in Armenia, and the Armenian officials take pride in their connections with Moscow officials, and the footages of hugs with them are part of the ads of the Republican Party. If Washington and Paris smelled the plot, somehow we could understand the Armenian elite. Bush has never been said to be a friend of Robert Kocharyan’s or Serge Sargsyan’s, and Chirac is a stage that is ending. However, Moscow is different. So different that one of the core programs of the 15th anniversary of national victory is the show “Yerevan-Moscow Transit”.