lenders
and by presenting Armenia as an economic bridge between China and
Europe. He also launched an ambitious constitutional reform agenda
weakening presidential power to present a more credible façade of
democracy to the international community, while providing a gateway to a
potential run for a third presidential term.

When opposition
movements resisted these measures by claiming that Republican Party was
trying to institutionalize a one-party system in Armenia, Sargsyan
devised a divide-and-conquer strategy to marginalize the opposition
and exploit its disunity. Amidst allegations of bribery and by courting
Russian assistance, the Prosperous Armenia bloc supported the regime's
proposed reforms, dissolving the opposition troika formed several months earlier. As
a result, opposition blocs like the Heritage Party who opposed the
Sargsyan reforms became increasingly hostile towards those who
acquiesced and experienced defections amongst their own ranks. The
regime's clever political machinations ensured that theDecember 7
referendum was met with much more muted opposition than one would have
expected on the heels of Electric Yerevan.

Armenia and Russia: A Tightening Partnership

The
second prong of Sargsyan's authoritarian consolidation strategy is a
counter-intuitive one: deepening Armenia's partnership with Russia. The
Electric Yerevan protests highlighted Russia's eroding soft power in
Armenia and diminished popular support for integration with Putin's
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) during a period of economic recession.
Sargsyan's channeling of public anger away from Russia and towards
Armenian domestic policy by appearing to crack down on government
mismanagement and police brutality was a risky move. But in the long
run, it has crystallized Russia's support for Armenia, at a time when Azerbaijan has been attempting to thaw relations with the Kremlin.

Russia's
increased support for Armenia once again upholds its reputation as the
leading guardian of authoritarianism in