Aramazd posts an announcement about a new Aylyntranq rally on the “Liberty Square [Azatutyan hraparak], March 23rd, 17:00”, noting, that at this point Aylyntranq are trying to reach a court decision to protect their right for holding the meeting “especially in the Liberty Square”, and that regardless the court proceedings, the meeting will be held there.
It is important to note, that the “Freedom Square” in front of the Yerevan Opera house is an important symbol of the Kharabakh movement 19 years ago, and has sentiments of freedom and national revival associated with it, that the Aylyntranq movement are trying to recapture. As if to stop this from happening, Yerevan Municipality has been denying the movement the right to hold rallies in this memorable location, allocating the square in front of Matenadaran [the Manuscript Museum] instead.
Interestingly, as Kornelij Glas noted in his Election leaflet #5 the rallies are loosing popularity, the last Aylyntranq rally only attracting “100-200 participants”.
Day: March 21, 2007
Election blogging guide
CRD / TI Armenia Election Monitor 2007 reports, that “the Election Blogging Guide, co-authored by Solana Larsen, Zephyr Teachout, and Mary Joyce, has been translated into Armenian and is now available for download“, and expresses hope that it will encourage more citizens of Armenia to form their blogs.
Decision 2007. Is there one?
Harmick at the Blogrel discusses the political situation in Armenia, speaking about his expectation, that the Bargavach Hayastan will win a “a landslide victory” in the upcoming elections, describing it as “a force that cannot be reckoned with” and speculating, that perhaps there won’t even be a need to fix the elections, as Bargavach Hayastan is so far ahead of any other forces in the political scene.
Parliamentary Election Monitor
“Elections in Armenia are usually overshadowed by incidents of violence such as the stabbing of an opposition campaign manager during the 2003 Presidential Election, and sometimes — as was the case in the village of Shahumian during the last parliamentary election or in Nor Hajn during the 2005 local election — even killings. Recently, an internal spat in an opposition party resulted in physical attacks, and RFE/RL reports that a brawl has been reported between the two expected front runners this time round, Prosperous Armenia and the ruling Republican party.” CRD / TI Election Monitor 2007 writes, adding, that rivalry between the two pro-presidential parties can be considered a significant factor in how the election plays out. Visit the blog for more.
Kornelij's Election Leaflet #5
Kornelij Glas has issued yet another election leaflet, summerizing key political developments over the past two week:
- There is a degree of calm-down in the political processes – it looks as though the political parties are getting ready for the official start of campaigning.
- The greatest degree of activity is observed from the side of “Aylyntranq” aka “Impeachment”, but the rally activity is coming to a halt. The last rally had about 100-200 participants (I’m writing 200 just to be on the safe side, lest anybody think that I’m trying to reduce the figures).
- On the positive side for “Aylyntranq”, they are leading on the OpenArmenia. According to the results of the current polls on OA the movement is the front runner. Heated debates concerning the past and the future of the movement are debated on a number of discussion threads, this one in particular. Several activists of the movement have joined the forum – and the activists of the youth wing Aramazd Ghalamkaryan and Hrant Ter-Abrahamyan are actively participating in the debates too.
- Also, according to the on-line polls conducted by OA and Uzogh dashnaks have a lot of votes. I can state, that generally in my surroundings the general acceptance of ARF is growing, which probably has to do with the fact, that dashnaks have an understandable position and are nationalistically oriented. (Let me just add, that I have no sympathies whatsoever towards the activities of ARF in Armenia)
- Bargavach Hayastan opened a site. Following from that site it is clear, that a) Tsarukyan has a laptop, and it is even possible, that he has a blog, b) to join the party you need 2 photos and the party is ready to help you make those if you need, c) despite all the the malicious gossip, the party does have a programme– in all three languages, surprising as it may seem.