VZCZCXRO9956
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHYE #0001/01 0040717
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 040717Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9905
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 000001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TU AJ AM
SUBJECT: FINAL DEATH THROES FOR LTP'S OPPOSITION ANC? 
 
YEREVAN 00000001  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: CDA Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C) Since its creation in May 2008 in the wake of the 
disputed 2008 presidential election, the 17-party opposition 
Armenian National Congress (ANC) has been unable to 
accomplish its stated goal of dislodging the ruling 
authorities from power. Led by the overbearing Levon 
Ter-Petrossian (Armenia's first president and the main loser 
of the 2008 election), the ANC has instead failed to staunch 
the steady loss of public support and political relevance as 
the country's principal extra-parliamentary opposition. 
Recent indicators suggest that the umbrella ANC might also be 
straining at the seams, with its members discouraged, 
divided, and torn over their loyalties to their prominent but 
self-absorbed leader. Should the ANC suffer substantive 
fractures, it would likely spell the death knell for the 
political bloc that likes to think of itself as the main 
opposition force in Armenia. END SUMMARY. 
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DISCOURAGEMENT, DISAGREEMENTS PLAGUING ANC 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (C) According to contacts inside the ANC, four main 
factors have combined to create mounting discouragement and 
disagreement within the ANC. These include LTP's conciliatory 
stance on President Sargsian's foreign policy; a lack of 
internal democracy in the Congress; a lack of strategy to 
move towards declared goals; and a shortage of financial 
resources. These factors, contacts tell us, have brought many 
of the 17 member parties to apathy and discouragement, and 
prompted them to explore ways to break away from the ANC 
without burning their bridges with the prominent but 
self-centered and vindictive LTP. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Some of the more nationalistic members of the ANC 
have vehemently disagreed with LTP's stance on foreign policy 
issues, in particular his views on Turkey-Armenia 
rapprochement and resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict. These members are disgruntled by LTP's apparent 
support of President Sargsian on these issues. The 
disagreements have boiled over into a bitter leadership 
battle inside one of the ANC's most nationalistic parties, 
the Hnchak Liberal Party, with two rival factions keen to 
oust each other from the Hnchak ranks. (Comment: The 
Diaspora-based Hnchaks have reportedly suffered from internal 
disagreements a long time, but LTP's foreign policy stances 
have brought those disagreements to a boil. End Comment.) 
With their next party congress set for January 9, the Hnchaks 
may decide to depart the ANC should their leadership change. 
 
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LACK OF INTERNAL DEMOCRACY UNDERCUTS COHESION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The lack of internal democracy is another factor 
undermining the integrity of the bloc, ANC contacts tell us. 
Decisions are made solely by LTP and formalized in the 
so-called "political council," which has essentially no 
leverage in the decision-making process. One prominent ANC 
insider told PolOff, for example, that before LTP gives a 
major speech, he is loath to share it with any of his 
colleagues, and rarely seeks feedback. Two other ANC leaders 
grumbled to PolOff in mid-December that they opposed LTP's 
refusal to take up the seats he won in the Yerevan city 
council, which was established at the end of May following a 
disputed election. They both fumed that even though the 
election was neither free nor fair, "we should be involved in 
(Armenia's) political processes, not always outside of them." 
 
¶5. (C) We also hear from ANC contacts that LTP assigns the 
political coordination of the bloc to individuals who have no 
authority with the leaders of the bloc's member parties, a 
practice that also breeds discontent. Armen Martirossian, a 
member of parliament and one of the leaders of the rival 
opposition Heritage Party, separately told PolOffs that LTP 
fears giving any management control to any of the ANC 
parties, lest the stronger, more opinionated leaders go 
behind LTP's back in an effort to marginalize him. 
Martirossian stated that LTP's need for absolute fealty from 
followers who will silently do as they are told was one of 
the reasons his party could not cooperate with the ANC. "He 
wanted to do the same with Heritage, integrate us into his 
amorphous conglomerate, have us assimilate, and lose our 
identity. That's why we didn't join them," Martirossian said, 
referring to Heritage's well-publicized refusal to join the 
ANC in the run-up to Yerevan's May 31 city council election. 
 
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YEREVAN 00000001  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
LACK OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Another challenge that the bloc reportedly faces is a 
shortage of financial resources. Those businessmen who were 
providing financial support to the ANC in hopes that the bloc 
might come to power have reportedly stopped doing so -- 
including the former MP and embattled business tycoon 
Khachatur Sukiasian. According to Deputy Speaker of 
Parliament Samvel Nikoyan, a leading figure in the ruling 
Republican Party of Armenia, this drying up of resources has 
made people in the bloc "hungry and angry." (Note and 
Comment: In 2007, LTP's 2008 presidential campaign manager 
Alexander Arzumanian was arrested and charged with money 
laundering after the authorities found $50,000 in his 
suitcase after returning from Moscow. He was detained for 
four months and eventually released, but the charges have yet 
to be dropped. ANC insiders said the money was collected in 
Russia to help support LTP's presidential bid, a sign that 
his political finances in Armenia were less than solvent. End 
Note and Comment.) 
 
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DISILLUSIONMENT ABOUT THE WAY FORWARD 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Local political pundits argue that increasing 
disillusionment has set in amongst ANC supporters and 
activists, especially the youth activists who have 
constituted the ANC's main driving force. The root of the 
disillusionment, the pundits claim, is the lack of a clear 
ANC strategy to move forward and a loss of hope that LTP can 
or genuinely wants to democratize Armenia. 
 
¶8. (C) According to Richard Giragosian, Director of the 
Armenian Center for National and International Studies think 
tank in Yerevan, the ANC has already lost its youth 
supporters. "Youth need to see concrete steps and have a 
vision -- a tangible goal to strive toward and clear ways to 
achieve it. It's impossible to sit at home and do politics." 
Commenting on LTP's lack of political vision, an ANC insider 
told us that "LTP's only strategy and hope is that Sargsian 
will stumble. He'll wait for a wrong move or circumstance 
that could spark a fire, will light a torch, and then try to 
assemble masses in protests. These tactics, however, cannot 
keep supporters involved and enthusiastic." 
 
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STEPPING OUT TO SHOW HIS DISMAY? 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) On December 15, in apparent reaction to mounting 
dismay within ANC ranks, Stepan Demirchian, the leader of one 
of the ANC's largest member parties (the People's Party of 
Armenia), held a news conference to argue that the ongoing 
pause by the ANC in holding political rallies "should not be 
too long." (Note and Comment: In LTP's last political rally 
held in downtown Yerevan on September 18, he announced a 
hiatus in rallies out of consideration for the ongoing 
rapprochement with Turkey and its risks for the NK resolution 
process. Many ANC rank-and-file disagree with such a stance, 
and have urged ANC leaders to resume their frequent holding 
of street rallies to challenge the ruling authorities. End 
Note and Comment.) 
 
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SOME MEMBERS STAY ON FOR POLITICAL SURVIVAL 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) "Today parties stay in the ANC solely out of respect 
for LTP, or their unwillingness or fear of betraying him," 
contacts in the ANC tell us. They add that "none of them (the 
member parties) see a future for the bloc any more, but since 
most of those parties on their own have no power at all, they 
cling to LTP desperately, hoping to prolong their political 
life a bit longer and wishing to believe his words that it's 
not over yet." (Note and Comment: The pillars of the ANC have 
always been three parties: LTP's Armenian National Movement 
(ANM), the People's Party of Armenia, and the Republic Party. 
Most of the remaining 14 parties are minor splinter groups 
from ANM or parties that hardly consist of more than several 
individuals. The ANM still has a countrywide network of 
supporters and branches, but it lacks a strong and 
charismatic leader and has a damaged reputation inherited 
from the times of LTP's 1991-98 presidency. End Note and 
Comment.) 
 
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COULD THE JANUARY 10 BY-ELECTION RESURRECT THE ANC? 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) With the ANC primarily a bloc whose creation was 
 
YEREVAN 00000001  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
predicated on the flawed 2008 presidential election, some 
pundits view the upcoming January 10 by-election for one of 
its supporter's vacated parliamentary seats as an opportunity 
to revitalize the bloc's sagging support and political 
relevance. The ANC plans to hold a pre-election rally on 
January 8, where LTP has announced his intention to speak. 
But the ANC candidate, opposition newspaper editor Nikol 
Pashinian, is currently in confinement awaiting the January 
19 verdict that will determine his guilt in the violent 
unrest that followed the flawed 2008 election. Based on the 
convictions of all of his opposition colleagues up to now, 
most are betting that Pashinian will suffer the same fate. In 
that case, he would not be allowed to assume his seat even if 
he were to win it. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶12. (C) Repudiation of the ruling authorities has always been 
the main reason for the ANC's existence. In this respect, its 
supporters initially viewed LTP and his stature as a former 
president as assets for effecting change in an authoritarian 
political environment. These supporters, however, have lost 
hope in LTP, recognizing that the downsides of his leadership 
style (vanity, authoritarianism, personalized politics) are 
insurmountable. While many in the ANC are still reluctant to 
cut the cord due to their own political insignificance, it 
seems that it is only a matter of time -- perhaps after the 
upcoming January by-election -- before the ANC completely 
loses its relevance. Should the ANC avoid an irretrievable 
break-up, it will only be because of its disparate parts' 
desire to keep the bloc on life support until the next round 
of parliamentary elections in 2012, where they would have a 
better chance competing together than going it alone. 
PENNINGTON