US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN109

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN-SIDEREAS, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, AM 
SUBJECT:  RUMORS TOUT ABRAHAMIAN TO LEAD NEW "SUPER- 
MINISTRY" 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, please protect accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) Galust Sahakian, Head of the National Assembly 
Republican Faction and close ally of Minister of 
Territorial Administration Hovik Abrahamian, revealed 
January 19 that Abrahamian will likely take over a new 
"super-ministry" taking shape within the GOAM.  This 
new appointment would make Abrahamian, a close ally of 
President Robert Kocharian, a de facto Deputy Prime 
Minister, giving him broad controls over a variety of 
cross-cutting administrative fields.  In addition to 
Abrahamian's current role overseeing local 
administration, he would also take charge of three 
other state departments including water resources, 
emergency management and migration and refugees.  The 
GOAM has not yet made an official announcement 
regarding the new ministry but we expect one within the 
next few weeks. 
 
2. (SBU) No stranger to controversy, Abrahamian 
(commonly referred to by his nickname "Muk," or 
"Mouse," referring to his slight stature) was 
repeatedly accused of extensive vote rigging in favor 
of Kocharian and his Republican Party during both the 
1998 and 2003 elections.  Some analysts suggest that as 
the new "Super-Minister," he would serve as a loyal 
counterweight to Prime Minister Andranik Margarian and, 
to a lesser degree, Chief of Staff Manouk Topouzian. 
 
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COMMENT: KOCHARIAN MAINTAINS BALANCE OF POWER 
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3. (SBU) We believe that this fits into Kocharian's 
overall goal of maintaining a delicate balance of loyal 
power players within the government and, in effect, 
ensuring that no single figure (in this case Margarian 
or Topouzian) has too much power within the GOAM. 
Abrahamian is, in his own right, a high-ranking figure 
with a genuine local power base.  One of the most 
prominent opposition leaders and former member of the 
Republican Party, Victor Dallakian, noted that 
Kocharian trusts Abrahamian more than he does the Prime 
Minister himself. 
EVANS