Hovhannisian has said that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation could be an "effective" opposition party.
Dashnaktstiun's lack of a clearly designated leader makes it unique among Armenia's major political parties. Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Vahan Hovhannisian, one of several party leaders, holds the most senior elected position and ranks as one of the party's best speakers.
An historian and archaeologist by education, Hovhannisian has been with the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation since it first began to regain ascendancy in Armenian politics at the end of the Soviet era. In 1995, Hovhannisian and several other party leaders were charged with organizing a coup against then President Levon Ter-Petrosian. Upon Ter-Petrosian's resignation in 1998 and the advent to power of President Robert Kocharian, the group's trial was stopped, and the ban against the Dashnaks lifted. The official charges against Hovhannisian and the other party leaders still remain in force, however. Some observers believe that the charges have been left as a means for the Kocharian administration to exercise influence over the party.
Hovhannisian has remained largely loyal to Kocharian in the years since his party's rehabilitation. First elected to parliament in 1999, he served as the chairman of the Committee of Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs. Since 2003, he has acted as deputy parliamentary speaker.
At the same time, Hovhannisian, like his party as a whole, has been placed in an ambiguous situation. Although part of the government, they criticize many aspects of Armenian life, such as rampant corruption. Concerns about the party's ability to win seats in parliament has also prompted an election-year flirtation with the opposition.
Pro-Government:
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian
Gagik Tsarukian
Opposition:
Artur Baghdasarian
Stepan Demirchian
Artashes Geghamian
Aram Sarkisian
Raffi Hovannisian
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