The fact is that they will not need a lot of preparations since they have been occupying the square since March 1. I am now very curious to see what kind of a parade it's going to be - it's gonna be very difficult to parade in that location. The vehicles involved are going to be one Jeep and three PAZ buses. The rumors are that the Jeep has been chosen to symbolize Serj Sargsian and the PAZ buses are going to symbolize his brother Sashik Sargsian, a PAZ driver turned into a Beverly Hills millionaire.
It's worth to mention that April 9 is the 40-th day (Քառսունք) of the dead people who died after the government's violent dispersal of the protesters from that same Liberty Square and the attacks by the police on the protesters at Myasnikian statue.
It's also the day that Serj Sargsian wants to start his presidency.
Update: Unzipped has found the copies of the Defense Minister's order about the parade.
According to the new law the parliament pushed through on March 18, this parade is illegal, no? Nothing like bringing weapons to a parade when you are supposed to be "guaranteeing" that nothing will happen. Plus this amendment below:
ReplyDelete"Another, more significant, amendment allows the authorities to “temporarily” ban rallies for an unspecified period of time after street gatherings resulting in casualties. The ban shall remain in force until the end of the official investigation into a particular case of deadly street violence. "
Time to get the lawyers out.
what's onnik say?
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteI thought that I am the only one missing onnik's "comments". :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, glad you want to hang on my every word. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, what do I say? Well, firstly, 9 April is not the day that Serge "wants to start his presidency." Instead, it's the day he has to start his presidency and coincidentally falls on the 40th day after the 1 March clashes.
As for the military parade, has this been organized? So far, there has only been a report in the pro-Levon Hayk newspaper that I've seen. There has been no official announcement. Until then, it is unknown whether this report is true or not.
However, if it is true, then it seems ridiculous because there is no legitimate reason to hold one. Of course, if it is held then we can guess why, but I hope that Hayk are incorrect. I haven't so far seen any other reports, for example.
But, as I said, if the report in the pro-Levon press is correct, then I would be against it. Interestingly, however, no other sources appear to be reporting it so until then, I consider it to be unsubstantiated rumors.
Obviously, I hope it remains that why.
BTW: Anonymous, stop being a coward and reveal yourself either privately to my email address or openly on this blog. What are you trying to hide?
Two anonymous comments? Even if you guys want to hide can't you at least come up with a nickname to differentiate yourselves and make it clear which anonymous is which?
ReplyDeleteBTW: Sorry for my absence from the comments section, but as there was never anything said here of note I kind of haven't bothered to read it of late. :-)
Onnik, it's the day that he wants to start his presidency. If he didn't, he would have made sure that cleaner elections were held.
ReplyDeleteOnnik how much Serj pays you?
ReplyDeleteor pick one of teh following options:
You are a lunatic or a clown or
you get a good price for your lunacy or you have been promised a good position in Haylur or you are a very sad person.
Following your comments and blog I tend to pick the last option for you.
Get some life.
Aram, is that the best you can do?
ReplyDeleteNO arguments, no ideology even, just insults?
This has been typical of Levon's supporters to date.
Amazing, but then again, par for the course.
Anyone who doesn't agree 100 percent with Levon is obviously paid by Serge.
You're just unable to cope with the idea of free will and thought, and even less able to counter comments maturely.
And Aram, I'm kind of confused. You allege I get paid by Serge because on this post I've said what?
ReplyDeleteThat there is no justification for a military parade on 9 April and that I hope the Hayk report is wrong?
Or you don't read and you just attack because that's the mentality Levon's supporters have been trained with?
Actually, Onnik is right: April 9 is the day he IS scheduled to start his presidency. It has nothing to do with what he or you or anyone wants.
ReplyDeleteYou vote, you hear the international observers, you wait for legal confirmation, and then you accept it.
Now, if you don't like it, start WORKING for a more democratic Armenia. Quit crying and moaning for the system to be upended because 1) that won't change anything and 2) you unnecessarily continue to play on unfounded build-up of people's expectations, only for them to hopefully feel woefully distraught now.
The sad reality is that these elections were the best in the last 17 years (not that they were run perfectly) but as a relative statement, hard to argue against with data/facts.
Want better elections? WORK from now (parliamentary elections in 4 years), and don't support sleeping beauty who wakes up after a 10 year vacation to save the nation. Thank God most Armenians were not as gullible as to believe this diversion from the slow path of democratic evolution.
reflective and Onnik:
ReplyDeleteApril 9 wouldn't be the day to start the presidency, if the elections had been fair.
I am tired of saying this, but everybody knows taht the 3 percent
which allowed Serzhik to win in the 1st round of elections were fake.
Even the supposedly "positive" assessment by OSCE on the next day of the elections, said that the vote count in 16 % of precincts was bad or very bad.
More than that, even Robert during the previous elections was at least smart enough to hold a second round of voting to keep up a more or less democratic image.
So, yes, April 9 is the date of a planned coup d'etat, when a person who hasn't been elected will try to proclaim himself "president".
Onnik, you want to wait and see if it is true? Let me remind you that not so long ago you were bashing (rightfully in my opinion) LTP for the slogan "who is not with us is against us". On that background SS looked as a virgin or Mother Teresa. What you seem not to be able to understand, that in Armenia someone with SS powers do not need to make such declarations, he simply puts those who are not with him in jail. Everybody knows that except you! And it is even done democratically!!! First parliament approves a law according to which being against is a crime, then people are persecuted by law. Wonder if they talked and shared experiences with Putin during their overwhelmingly friendly chat about this?
ReplyDeletePlease, stop attacking anybody for his/her opinion. Everybody will very soon have a lot of chances to see who is who. I hope Onnik isn't punished by the authorities by then just for trying to cover the recent events his own way. Saying what you think unless pro-goverment is punishable by law in this country.
ReplyDeleteConfirmed, despite Onnik's disbelief:
ReplyDeleteMILITARY PARADE ON 9 APRIL
On 9 April in the day of the oath ceremony of the RA president a military parade will be held in “Freedom” square, said Seyran Ohanyan the press secretary of the Defense Ministry.
“This is a kind of organizational ritual, which is common to the presidents’ oath ceremony in general,” he said, and added that limited types of military exercises will be presented to the president.
Note: the oath ceremony of the president of the Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will be held on 9 April in Opera and Bullet National Academic Theatre.
Source: Panorama.am
P.S.--"Bullet" is their Freudian slip for Ballet, not mine!
ReplyDeleteBullet National Academic Theatre
ReplyDelete-> :) Amazing stuff.
---
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Please, stop attacking anybody for his/her opinion. Everybody will very soon have a lot of chances to see who is who. I hope Onnik isn't punished by the authorities by then just for trying to cover the recent events his own way. Saying what you think unless pro-goverment is punishable by law in this country.
-----
I'll be there next to Onnik defending his right to say what he wants.
I am sorry but Onnik is very biased. He is running a pro-Serj and therefore a pro-dictatorship PR.
ReplyDeleteAnyway why are we even discussing him?
Good point, aram. We want to make sure anyone not a member of the LTP cult-worshipers doesn't talk freely here, especially if he is delivering solid information.
ReplyDeleteIf Onnik is not with us, he is against us!!!
Traitor!!!!!! Mongol Tatar!!
Anonymous writing at 5:09 PM
ReplyDeleteIs your comment been approved by the authorities?
I am afraid you are abusing the right to free speech here.
I am sending a report to prosecutor general, I think you'll be held responsible for your anti-state propaganda quite soon.
I didn't say I disbelieved it, but I need more than a pro-Ter-Petrossian newspaper for me to believe any news such as fact. As A1 Plus and Armenia Liberty (two other pro-Ter-Petrossian) publications hadn't reported it, sorry, but I needed more than an even more radical newspaper such as Hayk.
ReplyDeleteI also made my position clear on the matter despite I hoped the report was wrong because it's obvious why such a parade would be planned and as I also said, I am against the idea.
If that makes me pro-Serge, well, what can I say, some of you -- especially the cowardly anonymous who seems to spend most of his time attacking me even when I say something against Serge -- are just lunatics and fanatics.
I have made it quite clear. I am against Serge. I am against Levon. Neither won in a first round and both showed a breathtaking cynicism towards the electoral process. And because there is no democratic thought among Levon supporters who see everyone not part of their cult a government supporter, what can I say?
You better start focusing on issues and problems rather than only being able to attack people when they don't agree with you because that's the point here. You want 100 percent loyalty or you show yourselves to be EXACTLY the same as what you say you are fighting against.
My position is this:
i) Serge Sargsyan did not win a first round.
ii) Levon Ter-Petrossian did not win in a first round.
iii) There needs to be an independent inquiry into the 1 March events.
iv) The situation with the media needs to be resolved.
v) All those guilty of electoral violations on 19 February need to be prosecuted.
vi) Ter-Petrossian and Sargsyan need to sit down and negotiate.
vii) The possibility of early parliamentary elections should not be ruled out especially as regardless of who is president, a partisan NA will not result in any change.
viii) AND I am AGAINST this military parade. I made that clear by saying this would be my position if the rumor was true.
And that makes me a Serge supporter? And Aram, for the record, since 2000 I have been one of the few to CONSTANTLY talk out about the situation in the country to the point where your counterparts on the government side condemned me for being the pro-opposition as you condemn me now.
Ironically, in 2001 I called for a boycott of oligarch products and restaurant/cafes/businesses owned by government officials when those now doing the same remained silent.
I argued with representatives of the international community who justified the 2003 election and the oligarchal system when it suited them, but who now would like that forgotten.
And even more ironically, some of those who attacked me for talking about democracy and free elections after the falsified 2003 election adding that democracy was "over-rated" and "not for Armenia" are some of the same people who seem to have discovered "democracy" now.
I spent years on photographic projects documenting poverty, corruption and side-effects WITHOUT funding when other journalists and photographers at Armenia Now, Hetq Online etc remained silent until they received money for pursuing such topics. When Armenia Now was pushing the Opera cafes as "progress" and justifying Kocharian's re-election, I spoke out.
I am not pro-Serge, and I am not pro-Levon. I dislike both of them. But in both cases, the mentality on both sides is the same. And if that continues to be the case I don't see much hope for the future from either. Anonymous trolls just illustrate that point entirely.
I am independent, but you don't agree with my standpoint. That's my right. However, that you can accuse and attack anyone for that illustrates a lot about who and what some of you are. Like I said, no different than many of the people I've had to contend with on the government side.
Onnik, your points are all well taken except for one. Why do you think early parliamentary elections are a solution to this problem? As history has shown, elections in Armenia are constantly being rigged. Having yet another rigged election is not going to solve the problem. The root cause needs to be addressed before putting on yet another charade.
ReplyDeleteI dont understand accusations like one leveled against Onnik. Calling him pro-Serj does not help discussions. Similiarly he has called me pro-Levon. Lets keep to arguments:
ReplyDeleteOnnik says...
i) Serge Sargsyan did not win a first round.
ii) Levon Ter-Petrossian did not win in a first round.
.....
vi) Ter-Petrossian and Sargsyan need to sit down and negotiate.
Onnik you forgot to mention after points i and ii that SS is declared the president. LTP can not sit down and negotiate because he is powerless. He can made sit down and submit, but not negotiate. The one who should sit down is SS.
Similar situation was in the USA. Bush was declared the winner. He screwed the world.