Levon Ter Petrosian Rally, Liberty Square, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

The photograph above is from a presidential rally for Levon Petrosyan – Armenia’s first president who now wants to return to power – in the Republic of Armenia,
posted by Oneworld Multimedia

The poster in Armenian reads, “Levon VII: Armenian King,” with a reference to Cilician Armenia’s last king Levon (Leo) VI who found refuge in France as his Muslim foes destroyed the last Armenian kingdom.

It is quite ironic that the romantic nationalists who support Ter-Petrosyan call the former president a monarch, not realizing that the last thing Armenia needs is another king – which would be the case if either Levon Ter-Petrosyan or Serzh Sargsyan are elected. The Ter-Petrosyan “monarchship” was clearly demonstrated in the 1996 elections when he was celebrating his “victory” before the votes were even being counted. And I can almost guarantee to you a Serzh Sargsyan “victory” for the upcoming elections.

Armenia’s politics has never upset me as much as it does today. The more time passes the worse it becomes with former morons wanting to replace current morons.

And I think Armenia needs to change it constitution so that a president can only serve two terms in a lifetime. Otherwise, we may see lots of monarchs striving for return.