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WILL NOT SHOW IMMEDIATE RED CARD TO ARMENIA?

Politics


The visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, their impressions after the talks, their expectations from the Sargsyan administration and the answers from Serzh Sargsyan will determine the fate of the voting rights of Armenia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, not Prescott and Colombie, their delegation or the Sargsyan administration,” told “A1+” during a press conference today representative of the Armenian National Congress, member of the “Aylentrank” (Alternative) public/political initiative Norik Norikyan.

Norikyan ties the possible loss of voting rights to the Karabakh peace process.

“The issue of Armenia’s national security is at stake. On the one hand, we are dealing with the maintenance of national security, while on the other hand we deal with the issue of obliteration of democratic institutions in Armenia. What course will the Armenian administration take? Judging from their current actions, they will try to play with the fate of Armenia’s national security.”

According to Norikyan, the administration is faced with the issue of starting a dialogue with the Armenian society in order to mitigate the tension.

As far as political prisoners are concerned, Norik Norikyan considers this as the most painful issue.

“The most prominent representatives of the opposition who could play a clear role are currently in jail. The administration has purposefully sentenced those who could have set the political course of Armenia on the right track. In any case, Armenia doesn’t have the needed resources for keeping political prisoners in jail for a long period of time,” says Norikyan adding that the actions taken by the society will determine how long the political prisoners will be in jail.

Norik Norikyan is concerned about the fact that Armenia’s loss of voting rights will no longer hold Serzh Sargsyan back from establishing full dictatorship in Armenia.

“Whereas now Serzh Sargsyan is under the influence of the Council of Europe or the international community to a certain extent, if the PACE takes the decision to take away Armenia’s voting rights, nothing will stand in Sargsyan’s way to establish full dictatorship. In both cases, we will be dealing with an issue that at first sight will be given the term “smack of the authorities”, but from which the Armenian society will suffer the most. Nevertheless, I believe that the Council of Europe will be flexible, that is, they will not show Armenia a red card; rather, they will give a certain amount of time,” said Norikyan.