Upward movement: a new opposition is being created in Armenia
A congress of the "Our Way" movement, founded by arrested businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, was held in Armenia. During the event, it was reported that 5,000 people joined the association, and they will soon gather in Yerevan for a large-scale rally. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
There is such a party
The first congress of the Mer Dzevov ("In our Way") opposition movement, founded by arrested businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, was held in Yerevan. During their speeches, the leaders of the association emphasized that 5,000 volunteers had already joined the initiative. In the coming months, the number of participants, according to him, may reach tens of thousands, which will become the basis for "irreversible changes in society."
The movement's coordinator and the founder's nephew, Narek Karapetyan, stressed that hundreds of people apply for help every day by phone or via the Internet. According to him, the association already has a fully equipped team. He also noted that Daron Ajemoglu, an Armenian-born American economist and Nobel Prize winner in Economics, joined the initiative.
The proposed program of the movement was also discussed quite a lot during the meeting. Narek Karapetyan said that the focus will be on economic development. According to him, success in this area will also help with ensuring security, because "no one will dare to show aggression against a rich state." It was noted that concrete steps to improve the economy have yet to be developed.
Other speakers promised to pay special attention to the protection of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which is under attack by the authorities. Still others focused on criticizing the ruling party, including the lack of long-term development programs, high unemployment and other problems. Interestingly, at the same time, they spoke rather cautiously about relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
As a result, the participants of the meeting promised to hold a rally in support of Samvel Karapetyan in Yerevan at the end of October. On the sidelines, the coordinators reported that in January, the process of turning "In our way" into a political force, that is, into a party or a bloc, could begin. Accordingly, the association will be able to participate in the parliamentary elections next summer.
Request for a third party
In recent years, various opposition forces in Armenia have tried to compete with the current authorities. For a long time, the so-called exes have been at the forefront, that is, those who led the country before Nikol Pashinyan came to power, primarily former presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan.
They actively criticized the ruling team for a number of economic decisions, as well as for distancing themselves from Russia. The criticism reached its peak after the defeat of the Armenian forces in the 44-day war, as a result of which Azerbaijan established control over a significant part of Karabakh. The Armenian opposition then held a series of street protests and secured early parliamentary elections in June 2021.
The election campaign was extremely fierce. Robert Kocharyan called Pashinyan a political midget who failed everything. Serzh Sargsyan said that the current prime minister "would have committed suicide long ago if he had even a drop of dignity." In the end, however, the vote turned into a rout of the opposition — the ruling party received more than half of the votes and calmly retained power.
The protesters did not give up. At first, they tried to challenge the results through the Constitutional Court, but failed. Later, new mass actions were initiated, which lasted until the summer of 2022. As part of these demonstrations, thousands of crowds blocked Pashinyan's residence, hundreds of people were injured in clashes with security forces, but gradually everything came to naught.
A new wave of protest arose last spring. The reason was the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan in the north of the country, the opposition considered that the territories had been surrendered. At the same time, the new protest movement was led not by professional politicians, but by figures of the Armenian Church. The most notable figure was the Archbishop of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) Bagrat Galstanyan.
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
The dissatisfied first marched across the country on foot from the line of contact with Azerbaijan to Yerevan, then staged a series of protest rallies in the capital. Activists also blocked central highways and government holiday villages. At the same time, the central church leadership also supported the movement, and Catholicos Garegin II blessed the street actions.
However, this wave gradually faded away, although the contradictions between the government and the church have not gone away. This summer, Armenian security forces reported on the exposure of a conspiracy in the country, Bagrat Galstanyan and another archbishop, Mikael Ajapakhyan, were detained in this case. Nikol Pashinyan also criticized Garegin II, whom he accused of violating his vow of celibacy and called for resigning from office.
Against this background, Samvel Karapetyan outlined his position. In an interview, he stood up for the AAC, stressing that he was ready to respond in some special way to the attacks of the authorities. After that, he also became involved in a criminal case and ended up behind bars. In conclusion, he announced the creation of his own political movement, which he called a fundamentally new opposition force.
Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia next June, and the fight is expected to be extremely fierce. Sociologists believe that the opposition has a good chance this time. Researchers record a high level of distrust of the government and parliament, and a low rating of the ruling party. At the same time, the former leaders of the country are not popular either, there is a request for some kind of third force.
What the experts say
Armenian political analyst Tigran Kocharyan believes that the movement has good prospects.
— The last congress also showed this. There were a lot of participants, the hall could not accommodate everyone. This is largely due to the personality of Samvel Karapetyan. With his participation, major charitable projects have been implemented in the country, and now the halo of the victim from the current authorities is also in his favor. I think the movement will gradually take shape into a political party and a bloc. It is important to think over all the steps before the parliamentary elections, with the right approach, victory is quite likely," he argues.
Kavkazologist Artur Ataev says that so far it is difficult to say anything definite about the new movement.
— It is clear that this initiative is doing well financially, but the social base is not visible yet. We do not see a clear program, we do not know the goals, objectives, and ideological framework. Accordingly, it is difficult to talk about the prospects. I also note that an action has been announced in support of Samvel Karapetyan. In my opinion, this is a mistake, we need to focus on some idea, not on a person," he notes.
The expert adds that the elections will be really difficult for the ruling team.
— Pashinyan's main problem is that his plan for reconciliation with his neighbors and unblocking Armenia's borders is stalling. Yerevan has made serious concessions to Azerbaijan and Turkey, but so far they have not justified themselves either politically or economically, and we do not see any significant results on earth. If he does not continue, then the opposition will have serious electoral arguments in its favor," he emphasizes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
