Opposition is exhausted?
ommander of the Shushi special battalion Jirayr Sefilyan calls on his opposition colleagues not to follow the path of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK)
"Otherwise they will become a thorn in flesh like the acting authorities. This is what Serzh Sargsyan is longing for. Sargsyan does not want Armenia to have honorable persons who can incite a rebellion at any moment," Sefilyan told a press conference on May 6.
He says it is advantageous for Serzh Sargsyan to start a dialogue with the HAK as the Armenian president realizes the general moods in the public. He is convinced that Sargsyan will use the dialogue to the detriment of the opposition.
"As a result, the ranks of Ter-Petrosyna's supporters will gradually decerase before the 2012 parliamentarian elections," said the member of Sardarapat movement.
"Levon Ter-Petrosyan was forced to start a dialogue with the authorities as the opposition figures got tired of ongoing persecution. Many believe that the opposition pressurized Serzh Sargsyan and made him make formal, cosmetic changes. In fact, three years ago Serzh Sargsyan did not believe that the opposition would manage to rally hundreds of thousands of people for three years and hoped that the wave of protest would die out in a year or two," he said.
Sefilyan says Serzh Sargsyan is preparing for the 2012 elections: he has dismissed many influential officials, formally punished a few and found "a common language" with the HAK. Sargsyan even released some of the political prisoners sent to jail after the deadly clashes of March 1, 2008.
He says that HAK's goal is to gain seats in the Armenian parliament but the Republican Party of Armenia will keep the majority of seats.
"The main task for the nation today is to unite for a common idea and create a national statehood which has been the age-old dream of the Armenian people. Today Armenia is occupied by a group of people who consider "golden calf" to be their God," he concluded.
