POLITICS

Manvel SARKISIAN

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Manvel Sarkisian, Independent researcher (Erevan, Armenia)

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Preface

In 2005, domestic policy remained under the pressure of two major factors: the continued confrontation between the government and the opposition which began during the 2003 elections and the intention of the republic’s leaders to amend the Constitution. The opposition’s intention to force a change in the regime by means of a revolution and dispersal of the opposition rally on Bagramian Prospekt in Erevan on 12 April, 2004 added to the tension.

Throughout 2005, the confrontation became localized in the constitutional referendum issue. The visible and invisible transformations at the top and in the opposition ranks, as well as the interrelations between the sides stemmed from their desire to win; the referendum was merely another instrument of political struggle.

The boycott of the parliament launched by the opposition deputies and the organizational changes in the opposition camp proved to be two stable processes. A political struggle was waged around the Constitution and restoration of constitutional law and order through a change in the regime. For the first time in the last decade, the Karabakh issue disappeared from domestic policy.

Early in January, the deputies who refused to attend the parliament sittings informed the…………………

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