on the rebuilding country Armenians vote on Sunday during a snap parliamentary election which will decide their post-war future following defeat in last year’s conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. “We must establish a dictatorship of law, a dictatorship of the powerfulness of the people,” acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told supporters as he waved a steel hammer. “This is that the symbol of construction, we must build Armenia anew.” Armenia needs a brand new start, after losing swathes of territory during a six-week war last autumn that cost thousands of lives. ‘Return of the dinosaurs’ The question is who can deliver it. Twenty-two parties and 4 political blocs are contesting the Sunday vote, called by Mr. Pashinyan to place an end to repeated protests demanding his resignation. All three former presidents since Armenia became independent in 1991 are participating within the race. and that they are bushed opposition to Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party. Nikol Pashinyan talks with a loudhailer to his supporters in an exceedingly march through the streets of Yerevan “This may be a Jurassic Park political contest, the return of dinosaurs in many ways,” says analyst Richard Giragosian from the Regional Studies Centre in Yerevan. The opposition frontrunner is Karabakh-native Robert Kocharyan – president from 1998-2008 – who heads the Armenia bloc. A personal friend of Russia’s Putin, he has been campaigning on the ticket of rebuilding national security, regaining lost territories, and strengthening Armenia’s borders. Leader of “Armenia” bloc and therefore the country’s former President Robert Kocharyan addresses supporters during a campaign rally “It could be a contest of lesser evils,” adds Richard Giragosian, who sees a difficult choice for voters between what he calls the authoritarian arrogance and corruption of the past, and therefore the more impulsive and reckless leadership of Mr. Pashinyan. The prime minister came to power after leading a well-liked revolution in 2018. But Armenia has been in a very political crisis ever since he signed a Moscow-brokered truce with Azerbaijan in November 2020 to finish the Nagorno-Karabakh war. The defeat has been a shock and humiliation for Armenians. With strong backing from Turkey, Azerbaijan regained control of much of the territory around the separatist enclave, which it lost to Armenia during the primary Karabakh conflict within the 1990s. Officially, 2,904 Azerbaijani servicemen lost their lives within the 2020 war. Armenia lost an estimated 4,000 servicemen. A vote overshadowed by war Seven months on, many post-war issues remain unresolved. Tensions are at snapping point in disputed border areas between armed Azeri and Armenian troops. Frequent anti-government protests have demanded the return of some 200 Armenian servicemen and civilians held captive by Azerbaijan. Map showing the terms of the peace deal 1px transparent line Last week, with the assistance of the US and therefore the EU, 15 Armenian prisoners of war were sent back home via Georgia. In exchange, Armenia handed Azerbaijan a map of 97,000 mines in its recently regained Agdam region. But on 14 other Armenian war prisoners went unproven within the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. Azerbaijan captures six Armenian troops on the border Why did Armenia and Azerbaijan attend the war? Armenia leader accuses the army of the attempted coup Azerbaijan insists it’s returned all POWs and also the ones that remain are described as “saboteurs and terrorists” captured after the fighting officially ceased, and thus not prisoners of war under the convention. Former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who was ousted from power by Mr. Pashinyan’s revolution, has even suggested that the acting prime minister should exchange his son for prisoners of war. Mr. Pashinyan responded by announcing that he’s able to do so. “You should never think this is often an emotional announcement,” Mr. Pashinyan said at a recent campaign rally, after offering his 21-year old son Ashot in exchange for all the prisoners. “I say it officially, go and negotiate.” Ashot Pashinyan has said he’s prepared to travel. Armenian soldier upon one’s guard on border with Kalbajar region, 25 Nov 20 Another former leader, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was Armenia’s first democratically elected president, has warned of clashes between rival supporters within the election race. Where Russia fits in What has become non-negotiable for all sides, however, is Armenia’s dependence on Russia. After the war, Moscow deployed 2,000 of its troops in a very military operation in Karabakh. For ethnic Armenians living within the enclave now surrounded by Azerbaijani forces, Moscow is that the main guarantor of their safety and security. And while the opposition and also the ruling party are engaged in vicious attacks on one another, including an invite from Robert Kocharyan to fight Nikol Pashinyan in a very duel with any weapon, voters within the streets of Yerevan appear to be largely undecided. “I don’t want the previous leader, I’m bored with this one,” says Anahit Ghazaryan. “I desire a candidate who can lead us to measure in peace, in an exceedingly country where children have a future.”
Australia - Egypt