RFE/RL’s Armenia Liberty site reports that Artashes Geghamian has explained why the members of his opposition National Unity party did not participate in the anti-government rallies held to protest the outcome of the 27 November referendum to amend the constitution. According to Geghamian, his absence was due to recent progress in attempts to resolve the long-running but frozen conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh.

Geghamian said he believes it is wrong to challenge Armenia’s leadership now that there is a real possibility of securing a solution to the dispute acceptable to the Armenian side. He at the same time complained that the West is disinterested in regime change in Yerevan for that reason.

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The Karabakh peace process, which may well yield a breakthrough next year, is seen by analysts as the main reason for the West’s cautious response to serious fraud reported during the referendum. While the European Union and the United States questioned the Kocharian administration’s commitment to question, they are unlikely to impose any sanctions on Armenia. They have taken a similar stance on the leadership of Azerbaijan which held a reputedly fraudulent parliamentary election last month.

In related news, RFE/RL also reports that the Human Rights Ombudsperson Larissa Alaverdian will leave office before her successor is chosen according to the way outlined in the new constitution. This effectively leaves Armenia without an official human rights protector at a time when the rights of citizens are being trampled upon on an almost daily basis.

No doubt the parliament and president have not forgiven Alaverdian for criticizing the brutal supression of an April 2004 opposition demonstration by police, and the eviction of residents to make way for construction in central Yerevan.

Alaverdian who was appointed as ombudsperson by President Robert Kocharian nearly two years ago, is not seen as one of the top candidates for the job. She has repeatedly lambasted the Armenian authorities’ human rights record and in particular their 2004 crackdown on the opposition. Kocharian reportedly exposed his annoyance with her activities during a cabinet meeting earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Hetq Online has more from Edik Baghdasarian’s ongoing investigation into the gold industry in Armenia, my own article on HIV / awareness vulnerable youth, plans to redevelop Kond, Armenia as seen through the eyes of Israeli photographer David Dector, and poetry from Illinois-based Knarik Meneshian.