Armenian Premier’s Death Leaves Hard-to-Fill Gap

The governing elite faces the challenge of finding a replacement prime minister following the death of a man seen as a bridge-builder.

By Ara Tadevosian in Yerevan (CRS No. 385 29-Mar-07)
The sudden death of Armenia’s prime minister has removed from the scene a man widely regarded as a stabilising factor on the country’s conflict-ridden political scene.

Andranik Margarian was only 55 when he died of a heart attack on March 25. His death comes on the eve of a parliamentary election.

A former Soviet dissident, Margarian was independent Armenia’s longest-serving prime minister, holding the post for seven years.

In that time, he won a reputation for tolerance in dealing with political opponents.

[…]

The prime minister died just seven weeks before parliamentary elections scheduled for May 12, in which the governing Republican Party which he headed is a leading contender.

Together with the nationalist Dashnaktsutiun party, the Republican Party forms the governing coalition in parliament. But it faces a new challenge in the elections, as the authorities are also backing another party, the newly-formed Prosperous Armenia, set up by the richest man in the country, Gagik Tsarukian.

[…]

Tsarukian’s substantial financial investment in the party already appears to be paying off, with opinion polls suggesting it now has the support of 30 per cent of the electorate, even though it was only formed one year ago.

The Republican Party has around the same level of support, meaning that on current projections, neither will win an outright majority in parliament.

“Objectively, the political situation is such that no one political force, including our own party, is capable of taking the country forward on its own,” the head of the Republican Party’s parliamentary group, Galust Saakian, told IWPR.

Facing competition from Prosperous Armenia, the Republican Party last August moved to reinvigorate itself by appointing Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisian as chairman of its ruling council, while Margarian remained party leader.

Sarkisian is a close ally of the president, and the favourite to be nominated as his successor when Kocharian steps down in 2008.

Full text is here.

LEVON TER-PETROSYAN DID NOT CONDOLE

A1 Plus, 29 March, 2007

Levon Ter-Petrosyan did not honor Andranik Margaryan’s premature death. Nobody noticed him at the funeral either. He neither attended Prime Minister’s final farewell in the Opera and Ballet Theatre nor sent a letter of condolence to Margaryan’s family and relatives.

What is the reason for it? Avetis Avagyan, director of first president’s office refused to comment on it.

To remind, on March 25 the mournful news was announced, Armenian National Movement was holding an assembly and Levon Ter - Petrosyan was present. All the participants honored the memory of the prime minister with one minute silence but for the first president who happened to be out of the room.

I KNOW THERE ARE TOO MANY OF HIS FOLLOWERS LUCKILY TO LET THOSE IMPORTANT VIRTUES FADE AWAY. OTHER CURRENTS AND POLITICAL PARTIES MAY HAVE IDEOLOGIES SIMILAR TO THOSE O THE WESTERN HEMISPHERIC COUNTRIES BUT HIS WAS ONE BASED ON THE LOVE OF THE NATION/STATE THAT HE HELPED ESTABLISH AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE SOVIET UNION. HE SPENT TW OF HIS PRECIOUS LIFE IN PRISON FOR HIS BELIEF IN A FREE INDEPENDENT ARMENIAN REPUBLIC. GLORY TO HIS NAME AND MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE AND HIS FAMILY BE SOLACED BY THE LOVE OF THE PEOPLE FOR HIM.
HAMAHAIGAGANI SIRO, BY GAYTZAG PALANDJIAN
P. S. DO PLEASE ENTER MY www.ARMENIDAD-WORLDWIDE.org