RUMORS TOUT ABRAHAMIAN TO LEAD NEW "SUPER-

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.

--------------
COMMENT: KOCHARIAN MAINTAINS BALANCE OF POWER
--------------


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