Ruben Hakobian: Third Political Force Necessary

Finally a political figure in Armenia has managed to objectively assess the current political situation where arguably two minorities supporting the former and current presidents are still locked in a battle which threatens to destabilize the country. Ironically, however, RFE/RL reports that Ruben Hakobian was instead expelled from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), a member of the new government coalition.

The radio station says that Hakobian, once a senior leader in the party, also criticized the ARF-D for effectively allowing the first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, to return as the main opposition leader during the recent presidential election. Of course, if blame is being handed out, some would argue that special mention should also be made of RFE/RL which effectively pushed and supported Ter-Petrossian in his presidential bid to the detriment of other candidates.

However, like arguably many more Armenians, Hakobian stressed the need for the emergence of a third force untainted by the corruption and falsified elections which defined governments led by both Ter-Petrossian and the new president, Serge Sargsyan.

Hakobian confirmed that he had “serious disagreements” with Dashnaktsutyun’s top leaders over the strategy adopted by them before after the presidential election. He singled out the party’s decision to remain part of a government which it criticized during the election campaign.

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Hakobian claimed that this stance is “unprincipled” and has only benefited Ter-Petrosian. “I just can’t understand why the opposition field was fully handed to Levon Ter-Petrosian,” he said.

“The Armenian people are divided into two sections,” he added. “One is with the authority, the other with Levon Ter-Petrosian. This is a very selfish approach which is beneficial for both sides.”

Hakobian asserted at the same time that many Armenians dislike the two mutually hostile camps. “A considerable segment of our society, in terms of both quality and quantity, stands in between these two poles and suffers from the standoff between them,” he said, stressing the need for the emergence of a third force sharing this sentiment.