Sargsian builds coalition as protests continue in Yerevan

Baghdasarian gets security post

Ter-Petrossian appeals to top court

by Vincent Lima

Published: Saturday March 01, 2008

Serge Sargsian (l.) and Artur Baghdasarian celebrating after signing a cooperation agreement. Photolure

Yerevan -  As tens of thousands of people continued a round-the-clock demonstration protesting the results of the presidential elections held on February 19, President-elect Serge Sargsian reached a cooperation agreement with Artur Baghdasarian, who had finished in third place and leads the larger of two opposition delegations in Armenia's National Assembly. Mr. Baghdasarian will be secretary of Armenia's National Security Council.

Former president Levon Ter-Petrossian, who had come in second with one-fifth of the vote, led the protests, which are continuing at press time. Claiming that he has in fact won the election, Mr. Ter-Petrossian, who is staying in one of perhaps two dozen tens erected on Freedom Square, has announced that he will leave only to occupy the presidential palace.

On February 29, Mr. Ter-Petrossian filed a claim with the Constitutional Court disputing the election results and calling on the court to order a new election.

In each of the first few days after the election, Mr. Ter-Petrossian announced the names of senior figures who he claimed were defecting to his camp. Among them was Gagik Jhangirian, a deputy prosecutor general. (He was promptly fired for violating the ban on political activity by prosecutors. He was later arrested on illegal weapons charges.) Mr. Jhangirian had been deputy chair of the Central Electoral Commission during disputed elections in the course of Mr. Ter-Petrossian's presidency. Also among them were Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Baibourtian, Ambassador Rouben Shugarian (formerly posted in Washington), other ambassadors, and the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry. All were promptly dismissed for violating the ban on political activity by diplomats.

Mr. Ter-Petrossian also claimed that seven members of parliament from the governing coalition and senior officials in the Ministry of Defense were joining him.

The defections stopped, however, on Saturday, February 23. On that day, President Kocharian met with senior officials of the armed forces, police, and national security apparatus and reiterated their constitutional responsibilities. Mr. Sargsian met with members of parliament from the governing coalition; the members, including most of those named by Mr. Ter-Petrossian as defectors, signed a statement congratulating Mr. Sargsian and rejecting Mr. Ter-Petrossian's tactics.

A call for unity

On February 26, Mr. Sargsian staged a victory rally on Republic Square, a short walk from Freedom Square along the newly constructed Northern Avenue. At the rally, which was covered extensively on television, Mr. Sargsian thanked his supporters and also "those who voted for other candidates. We respect the opinion of our citizens and do not divide the society into ‘our people' and ‘theirs,' or, as some pseudodemocrats put it today, into ‘us' and ‘the scum of the nation.' Fascism and re­vanch­ism are alien to us."

"Together we shall overcome this divide," he continued. "I ask you not to succumb to meanness, because those in the other square are our sisters and brothers. I am certain that they were driven to the square by a desire to have a better Armenia. Alas, they are not allowed to notice how they have been turned unwillingly into instruments by a vengeful and power-hungry few."

Quoting scripture, Mr. Sargsian concluded that for everything there is a season. "Today is not the time to gather stones. Today is the time to let the stones drop. Today is not the time for spite and grudges. Today is the time for peace. Today is not the time to draw new boundaries. Today is the time for unity. Today is the time for work."
In the days the followed, Mr. Sargsian held coalition talks with former adversaries. On Friday, February 29, he and Mr. Baghdasarian announced that they had reached an agreement.

Mr. Sargsian said, "The position will allow him to be involved in the governance of the country, having complete information on all the processes and actively participating in them."

Mr. Baghdasarian said that his talks with Mr. Sargsian "revealed something very important - serious readiness and determination of the new president to combine our pre-election programs."

Mr. Baghdasarian's party had been part of the governing coalition, and Mr. Baghdasarian the speaker of parliament, until a falling out in early 2006.

Last April, in a meeting with a British diplomat, Mr. Baghdasarian was caught on tape urging the European Union to criticize the conduct of Armenia's next parliamentary elections. President Kocharian had characterized Mr. Baghdasarian's action as "a real manifestation of treason."

More recently, on the eve of the election, Mr. Ter-Petrossian called Mr. Baghdasarian a traitor for refusing to withdraw his candidacy in Mr. Ter-Petrossian's favor. He repeated the accusation after the vote.

Recent secretaries of the National Security Council have been Aleksan Harutiunian (1998-99), Mr. Sargsian (1999-2007), and Armen Gevorgian (2007 to the present).