Governmental Crisis Even Without Opposition

GOVERNMENTAL CRISIS EVEN WITHOUT OPPOSITION

Siranuysh Papyan
11:28 29/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

Interview with ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan

Mrs. Kharatyan, correspondence between Raffi Hovannisian and Serzh
Sargsyan continues. Raffi Hovannisian said yesterday that this is not a
bazaar for offices but everything is done for salvation of the country.

Raffi Hovannisian’s proposals lead to unity. I welcome his step, but
I’m not sure whether his proposals are acceptable for the government.

The first is related to the council of justice. We know that all
internal governmental deals, corruption etc. are possible only if
the judiciary system is not threatened. Evidently, this is a key
issue since if the judiciary worked well, the negative situation in
our country wouldn’t aggravate whoever the president was. The most
tragic phenomena in our life are due to the judiciary system. The
best example is the Covered Market story. Its owner, Samvel Alexanyan,
was fined a couple of times and was demanded to stop the construction
but he pays the fine and continues construction right under the nose
of the City Hall.

Today, 95% of the population does not believe the court follows any
case as it is supposed to. People do not believe any verdict of the
court. Only those, who benefit from the court decisions, trust it. If
the government agreed to give away this sector to the opposition,
a lot would change in our country. The opposition wants to change
the country, it wants to eliminate injustice, it wants to ensure that
the national wealth does not belong to a couple of people.

Will a shadow government serve as a straitjacket for the authorities?

I don’t believe any process could be a straitjacket for the
authorities. The government failed in Armenia at the very beginning.

False representatives of the government were not ideologically
prepared for the new system. We came because Karabakh issue demanded,
and there was no goal to review the system of governance. There was a
common denominator – transition to liberal economy and democracy. Many
followers of these ideas interpreted them differently, they didn’t
understand what liberal economy means, what kind of checks and balances
could there be. I think the most negative aspects are due to this. So
let’s not call it a shadow government but an alternative one.

The precondition for its formation is reasonable management based
on our experience of twenty years. There is hard work to do in this
direction.

Watching the latest press conference of the acting president, one can
see that the government is in crisis even without an opposition there,
first of all because it does not serve the interests of the country
and the society.

Can the society self-organize without Raffi Hovannisian?

There are groups of self-organized people, civil activists who organize
forums, present programs who keep the spirit of riot around Raffi
Hovannisian. But at the same time they work out the prospects of
alternative power. Even if the current public events stop, the idea
will remain the same. I’m surprised how Serzh Sargsyan or any other
Republican says everything is positive in Armenia without being able
to bring positive examples. Such statements cause people’s repulsion,
while the government, even in this tense situation, denies that there
are problems. They say we are a country with a tradition of emigration
but emigration starts as soon as conditions of living get harder.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress