How the opposition is tamed

By the launch of a criminal case against an NA PAP MP, former minister of foreign affairs Vardan Oskanyan and his organization Civilitas the government in fact officially started to pressure on Prosperous Armenia. At this point it’s difficult to predict the further development of the case and whether the government will only suffice by depriving Oskanyan of his immunity as an MP or as the media claims criminal charges might be pressed against other PAP MPs, in particular, former PAP ministers. In fact, what purposes does the government have by these actions? Is it trying to pressure on the PAP by these methods to ensure their support for Serzh Sargsyan’s candidacy during the presidential elections or is it really trying to forge the image of opposition for the PAP to ensure that the latter nominates its own candidate during the presidential race? The first option is beyond at least the political logic.

First, if the government wished to receive PAP’s endorsement for Sargsyan it hardly would have chosen these methods of repression because it would mean that he’s being endorsed by a party, the key members of which are accused of money laundering, extortion of state funds (if cases are launched against former PAP ministers). Besides, today’s statement of the PAP, according to which the party blames the government for political repressions against Oskanyan and the party and that the party supports all of its members, means that this option is not considered. Mildly said, it wouldn’t be nice if in a few months PAP agrees to endorse the candidate, which currently implements all these actions of repression against the party.

Therefrom, the second option is more probable. The government had definitely calculated that the campaign against the PAP would have gained great public resonance by turning this party into a politically repressed political force. In this case, the repression is even more highlighted because it is addressed to one of the key members of the party – Vardan Oskanyan. If the RPA-PAP conflict is really so tense that the government shuns PAP’s participation in the upcoming presidential race why would it undertake these steps to even more raise the image of the party within the society?

This means that the actions against the PAP will mostly hit the RPA during elections than the PAP if calculations aren’t made right. This means that either the RPA is conducting a self-inflicting policy or these actions are really aimed at forging an opposition image for the PAP. By the way, this image is quite unique. We can imagine how the RPA struggles against a party, part of the members of which ride in Maybachs and Rolls Royces – perhaps only in armored Maybachs and Rolls Royces. And the society should only be cautious not to be run over by these cars.