Nearly one month after a bloody clash between police and opposition protestors, the Armenian government is betting on a newly formed coalition to restore political "stability" and "solidarity." But, with its protests continuing, the opposition insists that only policy and personnel changes can defuse the simmering crisis.
In Yerevan, the troops are gone, and the newspapers and protestors are back. Armenia's state of emergency came to a peaceful end on March 21, but, for most Armenians, one unanswered question lingers on: What next?
Post-election political tensions are simmering in Armenia with the arrest of several political figures and government officials who have declared their support for former President Levon Ter-Petrosian. The government has presented the arrests as part of an attempt to crack down on an armed uprising.
While retiring President Robert Kocharian was extending his congratulations to Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian on his presidential election victory, while at the same time hailing the vote as "free and fair, thousands of Armenians attended a protest rally in central Yerevan, decrying the results as fraudulent.
After months of accusations and counter-accusations between the campaigns of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian, voters went to the polls February 19 to decide who will become Armenia's next president.
Former US President Bill Clinton may have presented his wife and current presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to voters as a "two-for-one" deal, but in Armenia, election campaigns and candidates' wives decidedly do not mix.
Former president Levon Ter-Petrosian and rival candidate Artur Baghdasarian have missed a deadline to combine campaigns, apparently denying the opposition any realistic hope of mounting a serious challenge for power in Armenia's February 19 presidential election.
Amid assurances from President Robert Kocharian that Armenia's upcoming presidential poll will meet international standards, leading opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, alleging unfair campaign conditions, has filed a complaint that could lead to a postponement of the February 19 election.
Two weeks before Armenia's presidential vote, two key opposition candidates and a prominent opposition party leader are in talks about a possible merger. If a unified candidate emerges from those discussions, Armenia's February 19 election could prove uncharacteristically competitive.
With the official start of Armenia's presidential election campaign this week, candidates are taking to the airwaves to make a broad array of political promises.
