ArmeniaNow.com 09.06.11
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
A new party embracing “Free democrats” is taking shape in Armenia, with several dissident members of the former ruling Armenian National Movement (ANM) at its heart.
Armenia’s ex-foreign minister Alexander Arzumanyan, who until recently was a leading member of the ANM (the de-facto ruling party in 1991-1998) and the broader opposition alliance, Armenian National Congress (ANC), told ArmeniaNow that at the moment the party was at the stage of registration.
“I also got an offer. All my friends and like-minded activists back this force. I’m still considering my steps. I cannot say anything more at this moment,” Arzumanyan said in a phone interview.
The Free Democrats Party founding convention took place on May 22. The party’s chairman is the former deputy chairman of the ANM Board Khachatur Kokobelyan. Among the nascent party’s board members are also Mayis Ayvazyan, who was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in the wake of the 2008 anti-government protests, David Arakelyan, Hovhannes Ghazaryan (all former members of the ANM Board).
“One should not label people, saying they are former ANM or Dashnak members, after all, let’s not forget that years ago the ANM was the movement representing our idea for liberalization, a revolutionary power. If we start labeling people, then we close all doors for liberalization before ourselves,” the new party’s deputy chairwoman, political analyst Anush Sedrakyan told ArmeniaNow.
Yet, many of the new party members acknowledge they continue to share the ideas held by the ANC – an opposition alliance where the ANM is considered to be one of the main driving forces.
Considering the issue in the general context, Sedrakyan says: “These people are first of all citizens of Armenia and they are disappointed at the ANC’s latest actions just as other ordinary citizens are.”
According to the analyst, the ANC should revisit some aspect of its activities if it wants to keep the electorate that it once had.
“It [ANC] should not continue to project the authoritarian system that exists within it on the society, because both the government and the opposition in Armenia, unfortunately, are being guided by the principle of authoritarianism,” says Sedrakyan.