Epress.am News from Armenia
The symbol of modern-day Armenia is the golden calf, which a part of our nation — mainly the political elite — idolizes from morning till night, said commander of the Shushi battalion during the Nagorno-Karabakh War and one of the founders of the Sardarapat civic movement Jirair Sefilian, speaking to reporters in Yerevan today about the “death of the third republic and the creation of a fourth republic.”
“We can assert the idea that the third republic is like a decrepit, senile [old man] whose situation is impending. Our nation is pregnant with the birth of the fourth [republic],” he said.
Sefilian declared that the Sardarapat movement is preparing for the creation of the Fourth Republic, but not through elections.
“It’s very clear — it’s going to be a direct democracy. The people are going to stand up and say resign [to the authorities,]. As for whether [that will be] through violence or not, the authorities will decide,” he said.
Weighing in on the talks between the authorities and the opposition bloc Armenian National Congress (HAK), which were recently suspended, Sefilian announced that the entire process is governed by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
“The master and ruler of this process is Serzh Sargsyan personally — when he wants he can create tension in the [political] arena; when he wants he eases it, and he has [only] one goal: until the elections, the May [parliamentary] elections, to maintain control of the field and thus hindering any uncontrollable process. Serzh [Sargsyan] is the conductor of the entire process, as during the days of [former president Robert] Kocharian. I am convinced that since 1999, beginning from Oct. 27 [the day of the parliamentary shooting], Serzh Sargsyan has had the lion’s share of the power, since we have to remember, until Kocharian appeared, who was Serzh Sargsyan?… He had one of the chief positions,” he said.
According to Sefilian’s forecasts, in the coming days, the public once again will be witness to artificial weakening and tension.
“On the eve of elections, we will witness the near collapse of the [Armenian National] Congress. The majority of those gathered around [HAK leader Levon] Ter-Petrossian are almost of the same variety as the system at work today; that is to say, materialistic values prevail,” said Sefilian.