Opposition for a month.

Looks like the ARF is going to be part of the Armenian government again. If you have not forgotten, the dashnaks have had ministerial posts for some 8 years now. But a month before the elections they suddenly became oppositionists and started blasting the government policies (while they had a couple of ministers in the same government).

Well, the shrewd politicians that they are, ARF is negotiating for their spots in the new government. They wanted the Defense Ministry at some point but as the Armenians say - Ախորժակներին քացախ. I wonder why did the people who elected them actually elect them. The only thing that is constant about their rhetoric is a militant message against their three neighbors, and devotion to the Russians. I wonder if indeed 17% of the electorate buys into this message.

Anyway, although the Republican party has a clear majority and they don't need a coalition to form a government, I read somewhere that they would do a coalition in order to avoid the dangers of unstable environment as they have October 27, 1999 in mind. They probably think that the dashnaks can either be in jail or in the government.