UNPRECEDENTED STATE OF OPPOSITION SINCE INDEPENDENCE
Lragir.am
08 Sept 06
The elections of 2007 and 2008 are going to be crucial, a
breakthrough. Such a statement was made again on September 8, and
this time the author is the leader of the National Democratic Party
Shavarsh Kocharyan. He announced at the Pastark Club that a peculiar
pre-election situation has occurred in Armenia, when on the one hand,
the government continues using non-democratic approaches in governance,
and on the other hand, the amendments to the Constitution provide
for the first time a chance to change the situation and establish
democracy in Armenia.
Shavarsh Kocharyan thinks, however, that the political situation in
the country does not correspond with the existing possibility and
challenges. The leader of the National Democratic Party says with his
political biography there are still some things he cannot understand.
"Look what is going on. The government typical of our type of
countries directs all its steps at reproduction. Hence, this is
not a new thing, and it is clear. So is in all the autoritarian
countries, and we have witnessed this for a number of times. What can
bar reproduction? First of all people, then the opposition and the
international organizations. These three factors may enable overcoming
the hindrance of fair election," says Shavarsh Kocharyan.
He says when people is considered an underlying factor, it is natural
that they should see there is an alternative to the government.
"If there is an alternative, they come together, get inspired, they
can see prospects," says the head of the National Democratic Party.
He says the developments in the opposition over the past year do not
create an alternative. "At least you know that it is already apparent
that since we became independent we have not had such a situation in
Armenia, such a frustrated society and an opposition with such a bad
reputation," says Shavarsh Kocharyan.
He says his political party has offered a project costing 4 million
dollars, which was rejected by international donors, however,
saying that the other political forces were indifferent towards
this project. Shavarsh Kocharyan says the representatives of the
international organizations told him what the reaction of the other
oppositionist forces was.
"I’m simply amazed, I do not give names, the names of the famous
political figures in the opposition, whom I asked about their opinion
on such a project, and it became clear that it does not interest them,"
says Shavarsh Kocharyan. This is what he cannot understand. Kocharyan
says instead of uniting and implementing a project in the opposition
the opposition is competing "for making one call or another the first,
whose call will bring everyone together, who will declare the day of
the revolution, who will tell first in which cell the famous ruling
tandem will be serving their sentence."
Shavarsh Kocharyan says the idea of the project, deep, targeted work
lost its reputation and the change of power was pushed forward. The
leader of the National Democratic Party says even the idea of rallies
has lost its meaning. "This idea lost its meaning in Armenia in a
way that rallies are viewed today in the following way: they must
rally today to go to the residence of the president tomorrow. And by
such wrong steps they took away the constitutional right of people,"
says Shavarsh Kocharyan.
According to him, it is established that the change of power
is primary, then everything will be all right, this approach is
condemned. It will be impossible to do anything on the election
day, everything should be done before that to reach a change of
the situation, because the election day is merely the reflection of
the current situation, says Shavarsh Kocharyan. However, he says,
if he were not hopeful that the situation could be changed in the
opposition, he would not give a negative evaluation. The leader of
the NDP believes that the society also feels the necessity to change
the methods, as well as the majority of the opposition, because they
realize that otherwise they are going to resemble the Russian Duma
where there is not an opposition, there is only a formal species.