‘Only a Matter of Time Till HAK Loses its Relevance’: US Embassy

Since its creation in May 2008, the 17-party opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC, or HAK in Armenian) has been unable to accomplish its stated goal of dislodging the ruling authorities from power, wrote then US Charge d’Affaires in Yerevan Joseph Pennington to the US State Department on Jan. 4, 2010, according to a recently released cable on WikiLeaks.

 

The US diplomat notes that according to the embassy’s contacts inside ANC, four main factors “have combined to create mounting discouragement and disagreement within the ANC”:

 

“These include [ANC leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrossian] LTP’s conciliatory stance on President Sargsyan’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.”

 

Pennington writes that some of the “more nationalistic” members of the opposition bloc have “vehemently disagreed” with Ter-Petrossian’s stance on foreign policy issues, in particular his views on Armenia-Turkey rapprochement and the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “These members are disgruntled by LTP’s apparent support of President Sargsyan on these issues.”

 

The US embassy’s contacts also note that lack of internal democracy is another factor undermining the bloc’s integrity as decisions are made solely by Ter-Petrossian and “formalized in the so-called ‘political council,’ which has essentially no leverage in the decision-making process.”

 

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 Sukiasyan.”

 

The cable concludes with Pennington summing up his comments on Ter-Petrossian and the Armenian National Congress:

 

“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 Jan. 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.”