“Kocharyan’s return will be a political war”
Support A1+!The Russian opposition still hasn't been established," says member of the Armenian National Congress, leader of the Liberal Party of Armenia Hovhannes Hovhannisyan.
As for the Russian oppositionist "Yabloko" Party's rally in Moscow today, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan says the wave of protest that arose after the State Duma elections will continue until the presidential elections.
"On March 4, Vladimir Putin will be elected President of the Russian Federation, but he will face serious problems. It depends on how Putin will be able to hold fairly, freely and transparently Putin will be able to hold the presidential elections," Hovhannes Hovhannisyan predicted.
According to him, the Russian opposition has not had any serious impact on the country's political developments in the past couple of years.
He doesn't share the view that Putin's return in the Russian Federation gives the green light to Robet Kocharyan's return in Armenia. "I rule it out. Kocharyan doesn't even have 0.0001 percent of public support. Kocharyan's return will be a political war."
How will Vladimir Putin's return to politics have an impact on Armenia in general? In response, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan said: "The one thing that Armenia needs now is stability in Russia. Armenia is so integrated into Russia in all spheres that the destabilization of that country may cause serious problems for our country."
He regrets to see that the Armenian-Russian interstate relations established throughout the years have now been distorted. "Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan deepened that and turned those relations into relations between two clans. Serzh Sargsyan and his circle consider the relations with Russia personal ties."
As an example, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan recalled Serzh Sargsyan's visit to Russia after the 2008 presidential elections. "After sitting in the big chair, Serzh Sargsyan left for Russia and told Vladimir Putin that "he was grateful for his support". That was embarassing."
As for the clash between opposition members and police officers in the Kazakh city of Janaozen that left 10 victims, Hovhannisyan noted that the "10 victims" have become symbolic in the post-Soviet countries. "If the international community didn't prefer stability in countries over democracy or human rights after 2001, the world would be different today. If the international community gave a political evaluation of the events of March 1, 2008, such things wouldn't repeat in Kazakhstan or in any other country."
