CRD / TI Election Monitor 2007 looks at “…the role of the military in political life in Armenia. While still effectively in a state of hostilities with neighboring Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the military does not play as much of a role in the internal life of the country as it does in some other countries…“.
However the Monitor looks at some of the recent developments, including Lebanon-born former Karabakh commander Zhirayr Sefilyan’s arrest, another Karabakh commander Samvel Babayan’s entry into the political scene with the “Dashink” party, Lieutenant-General Artur Aghabekian’s resignation from his post in order to stand for parliament on the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaksutyun ticket, RFE/RL report concenrning the intentions of Major-General Seyran Saroyan, the influential commander of the Fourth Army Corps, to run for parliament as a candidate of the governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) in a constituency south of Yerevan, as well as The claims by National Democratic Institute in their primary statement issued on the May 2003 parliamentary election about cases of limiting the voiting freedom of soldiers during the May 2003 elections.
CRD / TI Election Monitor 2007 summerizes by saying:
So, if the last parliamentary election was defined by an influx of oligarchs and powerful business interests into the Armenian National Assembly, perhaps we’re now beginning to see the appearance of the military in the political life of the country. Time will tell if this is all merely coincidence or part of something far more significant and far-reaching.
