What has been covered since the departure of former President Robert Kocharyan has now been laid open. There is a new alliance to challenge the ruling class in Armenia, and this alliance comes from the two former Presidents Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan, led by the latter. The facts are astounding: When the campaign period began, they formed a common election watch headquarter, with the ANC, Prosperous Armenia, Heritage and Dashnakstutyn.

Days later, Heritage leaves, and reports that the headquarter appears to be mainly an instrument to prepare for the return of Mr Kocharyan through the Prosperous Armenia Party.

Prosperous chairman Gagik Tsarukyan, also head of the umbrella organisation of Russian-Armenian civil-society actors, chaired on 27-29 April a large conference about Vladimir Putin’s vision of a Eurasian Union, in open opposition to the EU-Armenia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) which the current government is negotiating. Prosperous Armenia’s opposition became even more visible when Kocharyan’s former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan, now running for Prosperous Armenia, made critical political comments about the fire accident during the Republican Party’s rally, one day before the elections (on silent day). And yesterday he even used the high turnout during the first hours of voting to conclude at lunchtime that “the authorities have broken their promise to hold free and fair elections.” In a long list of similar accusations from the ANC leaders, there was not one critical word about Prosperous Armenia, despite visible violations from their side. This does not add to the bloc’s credibility, but it shows the unity of the new informal alliance.
 
Richard Giragosian said to Civilnet.am that the new alliance will increase the power of the opposition to challenge the ruling class, and I agree with him. However, the alliance is itself a combination of the ruling class of the past. An ideological confrontation in Armenia between those who ruled Armenia when democratic standards were much lower than today, and those whose main mistake has been to deliver too little too slow, may not push for a better future. Especially, Armenia has to focus on what is good for Armenia. So far, all main parties in Armenia were pro-Russian, but not in the sense of being a puppet. Some parties were at the same time supporting European ideas, especially democratisation. That is why the DCFTA with Armenia’s biggest trading partner, the EU, was always balanced and also in the interest of Russian companies in Armenia. Soviet thinking of “us or them” could catapult us back, to the disadvantage of Armenia.

Dr Michael Kambeck is the Secretary General of European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA ). These views are his own.