Levon Ter-Petrossian Rally: 28 February 2008
It seems strange to post this now, three days after the last Levon Ter-Petrossian I attended and the day after a state of emergency was declared in Armenia, but it is interesting to reflect on what then appeared to be opposition protests that were going nowhere with no clear end in sight. Isolated from the rest of the center of the capital, even the predictable marches lasting not more than 40 minutes were getting tiring and seemed almost pointless. Few on the streets joined the procession and even fewer showed their support for Ter-Petrossian.
In fact, most people appeared either indifferent or just took it as a humorous distraction from whatever they were doing when the crowd marched by. Numbers were dwindling a little, but not a lot, although it has to be said, Ter-Petrossian’s team seemed more confident and buoyant than ever. Moreover, attracting at least around 20,000 people — even if they always seemed to be the same mix of mainly elderly and middle aged people and a few upwardly mobile looking young Armenians — on a daily basis was quite a feat.
Besides, with a near constant support base, depending on events in Armenia, the numbers could also drastically increase. The rally also came as Ter-Petrossian was planning to seriously contest the outcome of the presidential election in the Constitutional Court which his former vice president and acting prime minister, Gagik Harutyunyan, presided over. Harutyunyan was also appointed to his position under Ter-Petrossian and in place to legitimize the allegedly falsified election of 1996 which saw the former president secure a second term in office.
Ter-Petrossian also used the rally to attempt to drag in the international community. RFE/RL reported on the rally, although interestingly didn’t quote Ter-Petrossian as likening endorsement of Serge Sargsyan’s presidency to creating another Saddam Hussein. As intelligent and academic as Ter-Petrossian is, statements like that are just too much and belittle as his case as much as when he claims he won the 19 February presidential election with 65-70 percent of the vote.
Indeed, only his supporters appear to buy into such lines.
“The West, the election missions must not display a formalistic approach to what is happening in Armenia,” he told the crowd. “The fate of democracy in Armenia is in the hands of the West. Namely, the United States and the European Union countries and structures like the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the observers representing them.”
“So the West, the European countries, the United States of America and their international organizations must make the following choice. Either they are with the people of Armenia — and that means standing for democracy, the rule of law and a market-based economy — or with Armenia’s kleptocratic, rotten regime,” said Ter-Petrosian.
Ter-Petrosian thanked Western governments for urging the Armenian authorities not to use force against his supporters holding non-stop rallies in Yerevan but said “more needs to be done” to promote the country’s democratization. That, he said, means demanding the scrapping of the official results of the February 19 election which gave victory to Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.
Back to today and it’s discomforting to look at some of the people in the crowd not knowing if any were among the casualties from yesterday’s morning dispersal of protesters camped out in Liberty Square or the evening riots that resulted in at least eight dead. Of course, some of us knew that it would come to blows and it wouldn’t be pretty, to say the least, which is why I for one was really not eager to cover this election.
Even during this rally, the police had again requested protesters to disperse and even went as far as turning on their sirens which made the audience think an attack was coming. Of course, it achieved the opposite and only made them more angry before the music started up again. For some reason, while many danced to Armenian traditional and pop music, only a handful clapped their hands to the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.”
Not sure whose decision it was to play that, but anyway, surreal. That’s especially the case after yesterday when the inevitable happened. Incidentally, now that meetings and demonstrations are banned in Yerevan under the state of emergency, there have been some in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri. However, reports indicate that the organizers have been detained even though the declaration shouldn’t extend outside of the capital.
However, I’m told the same was true during the recent state of emergency in Tbilisi. Then, protests in Batumu were also suppressed. Even after yesterday, it’s possible that the same happens here. Two hours ago Ter-Petrossian called a press conference for foreign journalists in the country. Ironically, there are very few, but there should at least be a report on the BBC later as to what he plans to do next.
If anything, despite the crackdown, it is Ter-Petrossian that looks more democratic to the outside world than the incumbent authorities. However, as one foreign journalist remarked over coffee today, nobody is expecting anything other than Sargsyan becoming the next president. Even so, as both of us agreed, the situation still remains unpredictable despite the strange calm that has now descended upon Yerevan.
Photos: © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008
- Published:
- 03.02.08 / 9pm by Onnik
- Category:
- Armenia, Armenia Presidential Election 2008, Candidates, Demonstrations, Europe, Photojournalism, Police, Rallies, Regions, Revolution, United States
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