Behind the Scenes, Sargsyan is ‘Centralizing Control, Empowering Thuggish Elements’: WikiLeaks

According to US cables released by WikiLeaks and published by the Russian Reporter, US Charge d’Affaires in Armenia Joseph Pennington noted that the current political crisis and the severe financial situation in Armenia as a result of the global economic crisis has spurred increasing numbers of Armenian citizens to move abroad.

Furthermore, leading officials expressed cynicism and discontent on the direction the government was headed. Pennington cites a particular case involving Deputy Finance Minister David Avetissyan:

“Polchief recently met with Deputy Finance Minister David Avetissian, a leading young reformer in the government, who expressed profound cynicism about the direction in which the government is headed.

“He predicted a severe political and economic crisis by the end of this year, and is convinced that [Armenian] President Sargsian is making nothing more than empty gestures at reform to satisfy international and domestic audiences. He said that behind the scenes, however, the new president is centralizing control, marginalizing reformist voices, and empowering thuggish elements in and out of government. As a result, Avetissian said he will probably resign from government service this summer, and is headed to Washington in May to look into employment opportunities with the World Bank,” reads the cable.

The US cable then goes on to outline the emigration situation in Armenia and the concerns of successful middle-class citizens who stayed after independence, but are now deciding a life abroad is the better choice:

“Emigration from Armenia is nothing new. It has been estimated that since its independence from the USSR, Armenia has lost 1,000,000 of its citizens to emigration — almost one third of its 3.5 million pre-independence population. What appears to be a new development, however, is the hemorrhaging of successful middle-class citizens who decided to stick out post-independence growing pains only to see that their wait has been for naught. The loss of these individuals is significant: they would stay if they thought the country was headed in the right direction.

“But their decision to pull up their tent stakes now, after one of modern Armenia’s gravest political crises to date, suggests that a serious malaise has taken deep root in society. Disillusioned, the once-committed appear to have lost faith that their government cares about improving their welfare or moving the country forward.

“Some also say they see an ongoing moral decay in society, where rich, well-connected, law-breaking elites run roughshod over ordinary Armenians’ rights. In addition to these voices from the middle class, we have also begun to hear disenchanted officials contemplate emigration.

“Karine Afrikian, a 50-year-old Armenian diplomat fired in late February for issuing a public statement with other diplomats denouncing Armenia’s presidential election, said that while she had stayed in Armenia after independence to contribute to the country’s post-Soviet development, she has now lost hope and is pondering emigration.”

After the March 1, 2008 clashes, Afrikian told the US diplomats that “teenagers in Armenia would now have to learn how to thrive in a corrupt, authoritarian society in order to survive and prosper. She said that youth would either ‘lose their souls’ in the process, or emigrate to escape the ruling regime’s stranglehold on power.”