By signing an agreement to endorse President Serzh Sarkisian in the 2013 elections, Armenia’s ruling coalition parties attempted to reinforce their positions for the upcoming 2012 parliamentary elections and the subsequent presidential race.
For the Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia and the Country of Law parties, the announcement was a way to assert their rule and block opposition forces from gaining ground or, for that matter, having a voice in government.
The declaration will set Armenia back with grave consequences for its future and any hope for advancement of democratic norms in the country.
In their declaration, the parties claimed to have protected Armenia and its citizens from dangers to national security, economic collapse as a result of the global crisis and ridding the government of corruption and bribery.
Yet a quick glance at their rule, since the 2007 parliamentary elections, only shows that there have been no tangible advances in Armenia, and in some cases, there have been gross violations of human rights and an effort to endanger Armenia’s national security.
“Today the coalition forces have more than 100 deputies,” Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia chairman Rustamian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Friday. “Can their presence get any bigger? At whose expense? Must there be no opposition at all in this country?” The coalition has vowed that its campaign for the parliamentary elections will yield even more seats in parliament.
ARF Bureau chairman, Hrant Markarian said: “In effect, a dictatorship, a totalitarian system is thus being formed in the government camp.”
If anything, the signing of the declaration should send a clear signal to Armenia’s electorate that the fate of the country and its government is in the hands of the people. For 20 years, successive regimes have used coercion, intimidation and vote rigging to assume power and amass incomprehensible wealth at the expense of the country’s well-being.
The ruling elite must not be allowed to bulldoze through yet another set of elections, through which it aims to cement its hold on both the legislative and executive—and as a result judicial—branches of the government and without the checks and balances continue to govern with impunity and reckless disregard toward the aspirations of its citizens and the Armenian nation.
The people must rise up and learn their rights, empower themselves and take part in elections as informed voters and concerned citizens.
The ARF’s campaign, announced earlier this week and officially launched on Friday, aims to bring together all facets of society under one tent and engage all voters to take party in a massive electoral reform campaign. The people of Armenia must come together and defeat the ruling coalition’s effort to further solidify its hold on Armenia.
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It is very false to say that no advances have been made in Armenia since 2007. And I guess the politico-military agreement that was signed between Russia and Armenia in 2010 didn’t advance Armenias national security interests right?
It seems the ruling coalition leaders neither hear nor see the explosive situation in this( Middle East) area. Long time rulers depart from the arena under polpular pressure. They are doing the opposite in order to consolidate their rule ( until 2018). Isn’t it too early to anounce their “dear” canditate? I would give this humble advice: Dear TRIO, open your eyes and ears! Just try to understand that you are swimming agianst the current, against the tide. Our country which is in war against azeris and blocked by turks, can not move towards a dictatorship albeit “elected”! Our future is endangered oh happy Big Boys. Such an anouncement can lead us to undesired places. What we need is some more democracy, more reform. If not reformed, we may find ourselves in front of dire situation. Such a consolidation of power is dangerous, first of all for you!
I think you misplaced this article under the Top Story/News section. It should properly go under the Editorial section.
There will come a day when people will remove these corrupt mafia-backed officials from power and will open up the road for the progress of our ancestral homeland. With acts like this coalition actually move us one step closer to the day when Zoravar Andranik’s or Zoravar Dro’s jokats will be reborn and will reward these people to whatever they deserve for.
National heroes General Andranik and Dro did not fight against their country or countrymen.
Anyone who has the itch for a fight should go and man the LOC in Artsakh, where every month Azeris are killing young Armenian soldiers. Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and encounter an Azeri invader face-to-face.
This kind of thinking led Dashnak, Ramgavar, and Henchak young men to kill each other in Lebanon: 100s of young Armenian men died for nothing. Their deaths weakened the community and made it more vulnerable to attacks by the enemies.
Well, the first step in breaking the back of the regime’s hold on power came yesterday when an estimated crowd of 20,000 took to the streets of Yerevan under the HAK banner calling for snap parliamentary and presidential elections.
People in the diaspora must grasp the severity of the situation in Armenia and make a concerted effort to support all true opposition forces in the country.
Walking amongst the crowd yesterday, you could sense that ordinary people in Armenia are itching to take matters in their own hand and damn the consequences. In a word, nothing could be worse than it is now.
When citizens have no confidence in the government and feel alienated, they either pack up and leave or stay and survive somehow.
The margin for surviving is growing smaller by the day. It can only lead to a social explosion.
Some talk of the need for security and stability in Armenia given the geo-political situation in the region, but unless steps are taken to rectify the country’s numerous fundamental problems the reality on the ground, internally, will only continue to destabilize.
There can be no talk of stability when the people curse their leaders at every turn.
We have not forgotten the ‘Dark and Cold Days’ of Levon ter-petrossian. The young people in Armenia who follow him have no idea that they were born into an age when Armenia was being totally ruined by your leader. STOP the hretoric. Enough is Enough.
The status-quo is almost as bad as LTP.
We need REAL/ PURE ARMENIAN LEADERS TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY FROM այլազգեր:
Welcome to The Banana Republic Of Armenia!
President Sarkisian seem to be the better of the Three presidents.He seems to be reforming Armenia slowly but surely.As things are at the moment ,our country is stable enough to deter the Azeris.I only wish that Serj showed more courage,listen more to the people and look around to what is happening in the world before is too late.
T he other alternative for Armenia is LDP (the first president).He is the bigest corrupt person of the lot and I am not the only one saying it After those first years of his rule I can’t imagine him running the country again.
Personally, I am ARFD sympathiser and hope that one day soon the Dasnaks will govern the country and than we will have HR and JUSTIS in HAYASTAN.
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After years of fighting, ARF, Hnchakian and Ramkavar parties MUST put aside their differences and accomplish the goal of creating a powerful coalition counterbalance.
I am glad to see ARF is confronting this move by the coalition parties. All governments need debate and need to be cognizant of the fact that their role is to serve the people and not themselves.
This is very sad for the people of armenia they should stand up like egypt take back there country from these CROOKS or its going to be too late. A country with 2 to 3 million people no natural resources like oil,gold,coal, to sell and there is probably over 100 muilti millionaires do the math.This is Capitalism at its best.Ha Ha Ha.
How are citizens/voters of Haiastan to be educated and to know they should not accept monies/payments to vote for them. These existing leaderships have been securing themselves to gain control of the govenrment but have not advanced Haiastan for ALL of the citizens of Haiastan. The monies must tempting… but these monies do not last very long…. but these dishonest leaders remain for all the wrong reasons – and not advancing ALL of Haiastan (except themselves).
Manooshag
So you mean, if 3 parties join together, it will be dictatorship ….?????? Next time he will invite Dashnag.
Akh…… better to have 2 parties changing hands between 2 families, and making everybody who votes think that he is part of the Demo-cracy, and he can make a change…. yes we can!
After 20 years of independence Armenia can only supply 20% of its milk and milk by product needs. I have stopped giving any more money to organization that help Armenia (like the Armenia Tree Project). It basically throwing money to a very useless situation.
Robert, you are not even Armenian, you do not have good intentions for Armenia and you continue to post anti-Armenian propaganda.
For the commentators who live in the US, please look to Washington before you call for any radical changes in Yerevan. Also, talk is cheap, what have you all been doing to help Armenia? How many of you visit on a regular basis, spend or invest your money there? How many of you have seriously considered repatriation?
Robert, you tend to forget your own history, either you have short memory span or ignorant of the painful past of Turkey’s history. Allow me to refresh your memory with this quote from Suleiman Demirel.
“There’s no oil, no foreign currency, no goods, no medicine, no raw materials, no fertilizers and no production… we can’t even close the 351 billion lira deficit by printing money. Even if we had paper, ink and printer it would not be possible. It would be another way of saying that the state has sunk”.
This announcement was made by Demirel on 24 January 1980 at a meeting with the government and the military. Of course, Turkey was saved again by the West for its strategic importance.
This is a crime against our nation when so called “ruling coalition” regards our nation as there slaves!
RA authorities/ Oligarch regime have opened the door widely for immigration of there opponents and who every is against the oligarchy rulers , most patriotic Armenian families (about 3 to 5% of population of RA – not related to LTP or Oligarch regime)) have to save and secure the homeland not only form extern enemies, but the have (the 3% ) the task to protect our homeland being destroyed by corrupt elements too
I spent time in Armenia every year and my impresion is that things are changing rapidly in Yerevan and I am afraid not much happening with the rest of the country other than all the rebuilding at the earthquake zone.I can’t say that I fully agree with this present admimistration but who is the better person that will run Armenia without getting killed?
I dought very much that this present generetion will fully change all the bad habits in the country.One thing for sure.we don’t want Middle East in Armenia,it is not the way.
Leaders of our fledgling Haiastan have ALL been led by those of the communistic mentalities… the mentality of ‘fill your pockets and to hell with the nation’!! Worst, from first ‘president’ DerBedrossian who, imagine, would not even allow the ARF to connect with worldwide ARF… filled his pockets and moved to France. Today, mentally, he has the GALL to even appear in Haiastan – as he gathers those who are like-minded with him to cause mayhem whenever he opens his mouth – unashamedly!!
Actuality: the connections of our citizens of Haiastan and all our Armenians scattered across the world is an amazing accomplishment – nearly 100 years following the Turkish Genocides of the Armenians – when we shall all easily been lost within the societies spread across all the civilized nations – today, as one as Armenians!! What an accomplishment!! The persistence and the strengths of the ARF leaderships, PATRIOTS, in all their history, plusses and minuses, all our past and present ARFers worldwide have been the ‘glue’ that has kept our hope for a Haiastan alive, whether as Survivors, whether as generations that followed our Survivors into today. Today generations later, too the ARF and ANCA generations have held our torch burning, kept our generations spirit and dedication alive.
Look across the world, all the nations such as France, Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and more… who still exist through all the mayhems of the centuries – elsewhere these cultures have melded into the nations where they now lived… NOT THE ARMENIANS!! We have been slaughtered, raped, kidnapped, dispersed across the globe – and worse by Turkish hordes’ mentality which still persists in their inhumanities to humans… today Kurds.
Persistence! for worldwide – together – even with our own ‘traitors’ we know that we are secure that our Haiastan – with like minded patriots – seek the advances and progression of our people, world over, are worthy and deserving
Azad Haiastan and Artsagh!! Manooshag