It’s not yesterday anymore . . .
                                                Talking Heads – New Feeling


I’m not good with numbers, so am liable to huge misunderstanding about percentages, etc.

That confession at hand, here’s my question:

If Levon Ter-Petrosyan got only 21.5 percent of the vote in the February 19 election, why does his cause deserve all the attention it has created and all the trouble it has stirred?

Two out of 10 Armenians wanted him as their president. More than 5 out of 10 (52.8 percent) wanted President Serzh.

Why then, do talks about “talks” continue nearly 3 months after the issue has been settled?

More math: Artur Baghdasaryan pulled in 16 percent. Vahan Hovanissyan took 6 percent. Both men have signed on to cooperate with President Serzh (after they’d accused his party of cheating them). By throwing their support into this cozy coalition it would indicate that some 75 percent of the population is in support of this administration, yes?

Should appear so but . . .

The men now running Armenia know that they took power by means not necessarily having to do with democratic choice. They know that, in a properly contested, monitored, calculated election, there likely would have been at least a run off between LTP the Hatemonger and Serzh the Manipulator. Lousy choices, but nonetheless . . .

When in 2003 Robert Kocharyan beat Stepan Demirchyan in a runoff by 67 to 33 percent, did Robert the Builder pander to Karen’s Son for conciliation? Did Kocharyan call for “dialogue” with the contender he’d smoked conclusively? And, by his own admission of loss, did Son D ask for a meeting?

No, even though Kocharyan’s margin of victory over The Son was less than Serzh’s victory over the Resurrected One, there was no call for a sit down. Yet here we are a month into the next 5 years and there are still calls for him and the Levonakans to have a Kumbaya conference and sort out differences. Why? If only 2 out of 10 Armenians are unhappy with the current lineup of leadership, what’s the point of coddling?

To be clear: Serzh ain’t ringing up LTP and begging chat. Still, internationals are calling for it and Ter-Pet is saying he’s ready for it. On what authority? How much arrogance does a beaten man need to behave as the winner? Answer: About as much suspension of belief as required to accept that he was beaten fairly. What right does Ter-Petrosyan have to expect an audience with the man who beat him by 5-2? IF that margin is accurate.

The point is that the very relevance of Levon Ter Petrosyan is exaggerated by the fact that no one here – from voters to observers to men of power themselves – believes that the official voting numbers were legitimate. So now every one is trying to make the best of a sorry situation that could have been avoided had the locals and the internationals and anyone else who cared stopped the madness before it became death on March 1.

But none did, so now we are stuck.

What would they talk about, Serzh and Levon?

Levon: “Nice tie you wore on inauguration day S. I watched your solo military parade in my bedroom slippers with guards outside.”

Serzh: “Well, L, had you not messed up my day, you might have even been invited. The champagne was primo, by the way.”

And what’s the point of them meeting, if the camp of Ter-Petrosyan is so absolutely marginalized that only 21 percent voted for him? I could never leave my balcony and find plenty Armenians who’d be more divided than 2 out of 10 on any issue!

These are questions that should not linger nearly 90 days after the vote was cast. But they are the kind of second guessing to always be expected when neither the process nor the counting nor the avenues for civil dispute are trusted.

If the President has a mandate, then let him use it. If he doesn’t, then let him admit that his place in power was illegitimately gained. Either acknowledge that the February vote was flawed, or dismiss Ter-Petrosyan as the malcontent that his numbers would suggest. Armenia needs a leader, not a panderer.

For the new president to engage in talks with the older one risks conceding a level of legitimacy to Ter-Petrosyan that is not justified by the numbers Serzh Sargsyan used to secure his power.

If these oppositionists are the ne’r do well trouble makers made out to be by pro-government want a meeting hall, why give them the prestige of holding it at the Government Building (as was last Friday’s conclave)? If they are as marginalized as President Serzh’s numbers would indicate, a simple wedding banquet hall would be more than suitable to house them. A café, even. Perhaps one of the many that have cash flow connections to the president.

If Levon Ter Petrosyan is the traitor that this new administration has cast him, then arrest the culprit and be done with it. If not, then admit that the current power base is short on believability.

The Armenian people need decisive leadership that can be trusted to do what is right by the people. That would also include following Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe recommendations. President Serzh has had three weeks to show Armenia’s intentions of being a good international neighbor in that regard. Three weeks, no release of the wrongly jailed; no independent investigation of March 1, only slight loosening of crackdown on public meetings. What’s left to talk about?