… As Does Kocharian?

Following on from Ter-Petrossian’s most visible sign of weakness to date, RFE/RL reports that the incumbent and outgoing president, Robert Kocharian, also shows apparent signs of concern about a possible alliance between the former president and Artur Baghdasarian. However, some Armenians still maintain that the Orinats Yerkir leader’s opposition credential are doubtful.

As usual, time will tell and it probably depends on what the price of shifting allegiances currently stands at. Still, for once, RFE/RL manages to avoid its usual partisan line of pushing Ter-Petrosian as the only opposition candidate in the presidential race.

President Robert Kocharian went on national television late Friday to advise former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian against withdrawing his presidential candidacy in favor of another, more radical opposition contender, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian.

The extraordinary move came as Baghdasarian and Ter-Petrosian continued to negotiate on the possibility of joining forces ahead of the presidential election slated for February 19. Under Armenian law, the officially registered presidential candidates will not be able to drop out of the race after Saturday.

“I believe that in case of joining [Ter-Petrosian] Artur Baghdasarian would lose at least half of his electorate,” Kocharian told a rare news conference organized for Armenia’s main TV stations and other pro-government media.

[…]

In an interview with RFE/RL earlier in the day, Baghdasarian again did not rule out the possibility of quitting the race and endorsing Ter-Petrosian. He admitted that not all of his supporters would approve of such a move. “Of course, there are tens of thousands of people who might not vote in the event of such a unification, but hundreds of thousands of others might vote,” he said.

Baghdasarian reiterated his view that Ter-Petrosian should also consider withdrawing his candidacy. “There are hundreds of thousands of people who assert that that consolidation must take place around our team. Naturally, there are also other views,” he said, adding that he will meet Ter-Petrosian for final talks late Friday.

The former president and parliament speaker have emerged as Sarkisian’s main challengers in the election campaign, and analysts believe that their electoral alliance would make the outcome of the presidential ballot more unpredictable. Kocharian claimed, however, that all opposition contenders are vying for a “second place” and that none of them stands a chance of defeating his favored successor.