Another Raffi Hovannisian Dialogue Bid Fails

RFE/RL reports that another attempt by opposition Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian to broker talks between the president, Serge Sargsyan, and radical opposition leader, Levon Ter-Petrossian, as well as other representatives of the government, has failed.

While few question the urgent need to engage in discussion, it was unlikely that either would respond to a request made just one day earlier — and unprecedented for anyone to “summon” an acting head of state whatever the reason.

None of the invited leaders showed up for the discussion, however. Ter-Petrosian reaffirmed through a spokesman his refusal to negotiate with the authorities before their compliance with the recent Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) resolution on Armenia. The resolution demands the release of Ter-Petrosian supporters arrested for political reasons and the launch of an independent investigation into the March 1 clashes in Yerevan.

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The leaders of the Dashnaktsutyun, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir parties, the three junior partners in Sarkisian’s coalition, also ignored the Zharangutyun leader’s invitation. Dashnaktsutyun’s Armen Rustamian cited his and fellow party leaders’ busyness. “I don’t think that the people Mr. Hovannisian appealed to are the least busy ones in the country,” he told RFE/RL.

“The leader of our party was in parliament yesterday, and if Raffi Hovannisian had something to tell him he could have done that in person,” said Naira Zohrabian, a parliament deputy from Prosperous Armenia. “Communication by e-mails and text messages is not acceptable to us.”

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Speaking to RFE/RL, Hovannisian countered that he reiterated his offer to Sarkisian and the main government factions in person while attending Monday’s meeting of a presidential working group charged with ensuring Armenia’s compliance with the PACE resolution. “This is the demand of our society,” he said. “What matters is not how one gets invited to this process. What matters is to get it going.”