An intriguing situation has been formed in the internal political life of Armenia because of the ANC-government cooperation theme. The intrigue exists not only in the opposition camp but also the governmental camp.
The theme of the dialog has been spread for over a month now but it seemingly is hanging loose in the air and it never reaches its final destination. It seems everybody is trying to be engaged into a dialog. They make statements but the processes develop in the manner, which block the progress. First President Sargsyan responded quite late to the suggestion of the ANC leader Levon ter-Petrosyan to start a dialog. And before Sargsyan’s response numerous comments and interpretations were made in that regard. And last week’s response of Sargsyan has even more deepened the intrigue and created an unclear situation for the dialog. Up until now, in the political sector they are not well-oriented whether he had admitted that suggestion or not. The ANC is indecisive as well and they haven’t yet responded what they think about the last statement of Sargsyan. It was clear that the other forces wouldn’t have a unanimous attitude about the ANC-government dialog. During the possible dialog they may have appeared in a political margin. But it seems this time this intrigue exists within the ruling coalition in the face of the Prosperous Armenia. After Sargsyan’s statement Heghine Bisharyan, the deputy-chair of the Legal State also made a statement. According to the latter they are ready to hold discussions. “That is a very important approach and the Legal State doesn’t see any issue negotiating at the level of individuals. If the day comes that this negotiation becomes urgent the Legal State will give the names of the candidates, which is merely a technical matter,” said Bisharyan by adding that the matter of dialog is not worth discussing in advance. It turns out that the dialog suggested by the ANC even in a different format has been responded by the RPA and the Legal State. The Prosperous Armenia would hesitate to give a response. A member of that party Vardan Bostanjyan stated several days ago that they will discuss this matter during their Tuesday session. But then the secretary of Prosperous Armenia faction Aram Safaryan stated that they had held a party session but they hadn’t discussed that matter. And till yesterday evening there was still no response from the Prosperous Armenia whether they are going to run in the coalition format and cooperate with the ANC. Prior to that, unclear answers were heard from the Prosperous Armenia, which said that they are positive to the dialog. And with her statement Bisharyan seemingly even more tensed the internal coalition intrigue and made the Prosperous Armenia response more demanded. She provoked the Prosperous Armenia to give a response as well. Yesterday the Prosperous Armenia MPs were trying to avoid journalists at the NA. And MP Aram Safaryan said that Mrs. Naira Zohrabyan would answer our question when she returned from the PACE. He also added that he had decided not to comment on anything till September. Perhaps this matter is more sharply set for the Prosperous Armenia. They didn’t wait for the return Zohrabyan and in the evening had to give their response. “The Prosperous Armenia has encouraged and still encourages the idea of dialog and is willing to use all of its means to support this idea,” during an event stated a young Prosperous Armenia MP Vahe Enfiachyan, who had previously never made any important political statements. Yesterday, after Vahe Enviachyan’s statement, Khachik Galstyan, the spokesman of the chairman of Prosperous Armenia political party, said during an interview, that the mentioned question was discussed during the faction’s session. Gagik Tsarukyan, however, did not take part in the session, and it is difficult to believe that the faction deputies could discuss such a question. A. Safaryan stated as well, that they had only discussed the questions on the agenda of NA session. Through such contradictory statements or responding to questions by means of an average deputy alongside with chairman of RPA and deputy chairman of Legal State political party, this party seems to express his point of view concerning both the political dialog and other parties of the coalition. H. Bisharyan did not make any comments on the political dialog and S. Sargsyan’s statement. The positive answer given by Legal State political party was conditioned by S. Sargsyan’s statement. It is worth mentioning that besides discussing economic and election related issues with Tigran Sargsyan, Hovik Abrahamyan and Karen Karapetyan, S. Sargsyan also suggested sitting at the round table of negotiations with coalition factions. It means that coalition factions should be ready for those negotiations. And it is more than clear, that Legal State political party would never give even a slightly different answer from what S. Sargsyan had stated. In the coalition the intrigue is strained by Prosperous Armenia political party. Yesterday in the political circles the questions why the second power of the coalition still hesitates to comply with S. Sargsyan’s statement or give answers not by means of respective officials, but average deputies, who have never been active, were discussed. At first there were opinions that the possible dialog and the future agreements and changes acquired during the dialog will be to the detriment of Prosperous Armenia party. No matter how intensively rumors about the possibility of deflection of Prosperous Armenia from the coalition or about special elections would circulate, it is clear that neither of the processes is in favor of the political party. First, in case Prosperous Armenia deflects from the coalition, it will not be perceived as an opposition and in case of special elections the possibility of collecting so many votes decreases. It means the party will not be able to collect enough votes to occupy the second place in the future parliament. It is favorable for Prosperous Armenia to maintain this situation, of course without being involved in the dialog with the ANC. It is not excluded that Prosperous Armenia wants to present certain demands to S. Sargsyan before agreeing to hold a dialog. Yesterday in political circles they considered it possible that the reluctance of Prosperous Armenia to be involved in political dialog is authored by ex-president Robert Kocharyan who guides the positions of the party in larger political games. According to existing opinions, the, the second president of the Republic of Armenia has supported the creation of this party from the very beginning. And the fact, that yesterday V. Enfiajyan gave a response anyway, RPA does not perceive unequivocally. Thus, they do not perceive unequivocally the signing of coalition statement on February 17. We would like to remind you, that quite a strained internal political atmosphere was created at the beginning of the year. The coalition powers were having meetings and discussions and there were previsions that Prosperous Armenia would deflect from the coalition in the near future. If there was no such an issue, there wouldn’t be any necessity to sign a new statement. In a non desirable political situation Prosperous Armenia may annul the statement related to both coalition and dialog. Prosperous Armenia plays the leading role in the inner coalition intrigues.