US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN769

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000769 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, AM 
SUBJECT:  GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE PUTS KOCHARIAN LOYALISTS 
IN KEY ADMINISTRATIVE, LEGISLATIVE POSITIONS 
 
REFTEL A) YEREVAN 656  B) YEREVAN 449 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) The government shuffled a number of key high- 
and mid-level executive and judicial appointments in 
late March, placing Kocharian loyalists in the majority 
of the spots.  Some of the most important moves 
included the appointment of a new regional governor in 
Armenia's southern Syunik province, several judges, and 
a range of mid-level police officials.  The changes 
also affected three governmental positions, the chiefs 
of the State Committee on Water Management, State 
Property Management and Emergency Management.  Some 
analysts point to the reshuffle as Kocharian's latest 
move to strengthen GOAM offices with loyalists in 
advance of the opposition's planned "hot political 
spring" rallies and demonstrations.  Others, however, 
view the appointments simply as the inevitable payoff 
for supporting Kocharian during the 2003 Presidential 
elections. 
 
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CHANGES IN SYUNIK PROVINCE 
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3. (SBU) The government named Suren Khachatrian, (aka 
"Liska") as the new governor of Armenia's southern 
Syunik province.  Khachatrian, a 47-year-old former 
auto mechanic and two-term parliamentarian, has close 
ties with the Prime Minister's Republican Party.  He 
gained political prominence during Armenian military 
actions in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992-94, when he served 
as a commander of paramilitary and army units in his 
native town of Goris.  Since then the Khachatrian 
family has gained control over the local Syunik 
administration and a host of businesses.  Some claim 
that the Khachatrian family considers the province to 
be their de facto personal fiefdom. 
 
4. (SBU) Media reports have linked Khachatrian to 
violent incidents reported in Goris since 1996.  The 
most recent rumor involved Khachatrian's two nephews, 
who are currently facing criminal charges for murdering 
a local man in early March.  With this new appointment, 
"Liska" will give up his parliamentary mandate.  (Note: 
An opposition newspaper recently suggested a campaign 
to nominate "Liska" to the Guinness Book of World 
Records for "not uttering a single word during his 
eight years in parliament."  End Note.)  The Central 
Election Commission (CEC) will announce the date of the 
parliamentary by-election in Goris in early April. 
 
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LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUDICIAL CHANGES 
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5. (SBU) The Kocharian administration announced the 
dismissal of eight judges and four procurators (most of 
whom serve in communities in Yerevan) in late March. 
Almost simultaneously the government unveiled a plan to 
reshuffle the mid-level ranks of the National Police 
force.  These moves followed the replacement of the 
Procurator General by his most influential deputy, 
Aghvan Hovsepian, on March 17 (ref A).  Most of the 
newly appointed judicial and law enforcement officials 
have ties to Kocharian.  (Note:  Some of the new 
judicial appointees were in charge of criminal 
investigation of the October 27, 1999 shootings in the 
Armenian National Assembly.  End Note.) 
 
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CONTROVERSIAL REMOVAL OF CHIEF WATER MANAGER 
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6. (SBU) Prime Minister Andranik Margarian removed 
Gagik Martirosian as the Head of the State Committee on 
Water Management, and appointed him as an advisor in 
the Prime Minister's office on March 23.  (Note:  this 
new position is little more than a ceremonial function, 
and represents a clear demotion in terms of influence 
within the government.  End Note.)  Martirosian, a 
former Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, enjoyed a 
reputation as one of the most able professionals in the 
GOAM thanks to improvements in Yerevan's water supply 
and fee-collections for water-related services.  He 
faced sharp criticism, however, during a recent 
government tour of rural areas over the GOAM's 
irrigation policy.  Members of both the opposition and 
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun (part of the governing 
coalition) party decried the decision to replace him. 
They claimed the move was retribution for Martirosian's 
recent criticism of certain local government leaders as 
"corrupt and deficient."  Some speculate that pointing 
to his failure to garner GOAM support during the rural 
visits was merely a ruse to facilitate his removal and 
replace him with a more compliant Kocharian supporter. 
 
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DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION, CHIEF OF STATE PROPERTY 
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7. (SBU) Former chairman of Armenia's Central Election 
Commission (CEC) Artak Sahradian was named Deputy 
Minister of Education on March 15, nearly a year after 
he left his earlier post in the CEC following the 2003 
presidential and parliamentary elections.  Some 
analysts speculate that Sahradian's "second coming" as 
deputy minister was a long-awaited reward for his 
"exemplary behavior" during the 2003 elections.  Almost 
simultaneously, former Prime Minsterial Deputy Chief of 
Staff Karine Kirakossian replaced David Vardanian as 
the Chief of Armenia's Committee of State Property 
Management (an agency responsible for privatization 
programs in the country).  Even the opposition has 
praised Kirakossian, the least closely tied to 
Kocharian, as a good choice for the privatization 
posting owing to her professionalism and experience. 
 
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EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 
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8. (SBU) The government appointed another Kocharian 
loyalist and former Governor of Syunik province Edward 
Barseghian to head the Emergency Management Department. 
A former chief of traffic police, Barseghian governed 
Syunik province for six years, from 1998 to 2004, and 
his province boasted the highest vote cast for 
Kocharian in both the 1998 and 2003 presidential 
elections. 
 
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COMMENT 
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9. (SBU) Appointing Kocharian loyalists to these 
judicial and administrative postings is interesting if 
only because of the reshuffle's timing.  None of these 
slots was scheduled for a personnel change nor were 
there any apparent problems with the way the incumbents 
were handling their jobs.  With Kocharian adopting a 
more defensive posture in advance of what the 
opposition predicts will be a "Hot Political Spring" 
(ref B), these appointments appear to be carefully 
synchronized and designed to strengthen the president's 
ranks as Armenia moves into an unpredictable April. 
WALKER