As the clock ticks down to the official start of the pre-election campaign for the 2008 presidential election in Armenia, political activity in the country is noticeably picking up pace. First off, Artur Baghdasarian has been nominated as a candidate to run in the election by Orinats Yerkir, one of only two opposition parties represented in the Armenian National Assembly.

The news comes as no surprise as Artur Baghdasarian made clear his intention to run as early as the end of last year, but his candidacy will undoubtedly see many of his [opposition] rivals accuse the young ex-parliament speaker of working secretly with the authorities. Unfortunately, such petty in-fighting is synonymous with the opposition in Armenia and bound to limit their effectiveness.

Nevertheless, Artur Baghdasarian and his vice-chair, Heghine Bisharian, at least appear to be in opposition to the government. Indeed, while considered a populist, the party has pretty much stuck to its guns since 2004 as a critical voice even when it was represented in the cabinet, and not least after the dispersal of the opposition protest on Baghramian Avenue in the early hours of 13 April 2004.

At any rate, RFE/RL reports that Artur Baghdasarian, who ironically entered parliament as a deputy for Levon Ter Petrosian’s Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh) in 1995, will not be supporting the former president.

“Not only because we don’t consider the country to be a gangster state. Appreciating Ter-Petrosian’s contribution to the establishment of our statehood, we are against his approach of totaly dismantling of the state and legal system,” he said.

[…]

“We need a legitimate president in Armenia elected neither through labels nor barbed wires,” Baghdasarian said.

The full post is available on the Armenia Election Monitor 2008.