Where Society Is Going
Siranuysh Papyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 12:22:07 – 07/03/2012
Interview with Manvel Sargsyan, Director of the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies
Mr. Sargsyan, can we state the civil initiatives in Armenia have run
ahead of the political parties and got engaged in real politic
themselves?
First of all, let’s make clear what is called politics in Armenia. I
think the ideological sphere is undetermined. Since 20 years, people
in Armenia have been confident that politics means activities of
parties. Parties, in turn, used to convince the nation that they
should deal with the issues of the state and people should listen to
them and go home peacefully. This brought about the creation of a
couple of phenomena. The society has been depoliticized carrying on
the Soviet traditions when all the issues were settled by the
Communist Party. Tens of other parties came to replace the Communists
with different slogans – nationalists, conservative, but all of them
had the same working style. The ideology of the `bubble’ has spread
very quickly on our activities – new parties emerged with new
bubble-leaders who were going to save the homeland.
This became a norm for the society which tried to seek `saviors’. The
`saviors’ invented thousands of technologies of communication with the
regime. So, this is called politics in Armenia.
The following happened in the past several years. The society
penetrated into the essence of politics and came to the conclusion
that the current situation in the country is determined by the fact
that politics is the following. The crisis of 2008 made people throw a
deeper glance on the reality, and then the trust of people in parties
vanished. People understood that there is the Constitution which
belongs to people, while parties are just groups which are not
entitled to be saviors. Moreover, they need to be judged if they
proclaim themselves as such. People understood that the systemic
problems in the country can be solved exceptionally by the society.
So, why isn’t the situation changing?
This is a long process. Moreover, the political system sees a threat
in it. The more the old criticizes the new, the stronger it will
become. The important thing is that the new ones do their job and find
forms of fight.
Politicians would like to involve civil initiatives in the parties but
it seems ridiculous now. They want to have the right to decide, while
the youth should only hand out leaflets.
The party system of Armenia is a clan in essence. No one has any
rights, only the leader of the clan. Look what is happening in the
Congress which is said to be a bearer of democratic values. The leader
of the Congress states he was asked to lead the party list. Actually,
the system finds it hard to form the party lists itself.
Parties became active after the protests in the Mahstots Park. What is
it connected with?
It is connected with the election period and revision of their
attitude to public pretensions. The old systems start being
personified under the new conditions. There was a crisp and clear
poster in the Mashtots Park which stated `It is time of
self-determined citizen’. This perception is a fundamental milestone.
The old system will hardly understand this. Not only the parties but
also the public sector have never been self-determined. They have
always listened to others.
Elections are ahead. Should civil activists enter politics?
Citizens raise questions. In 1988, they raised environmental concerns
too, the issue of Karabakh Liberation. This is the policy that the
parties want to usurp. But the actions of parties are clearly defined
– it is struggle for power. The rest is up to the society to decide.
Everyone is powerless in front of several dozen self-proclaimed
citizens – neither the authorities, nor the opposition. There are
people who say – I am the master and the servant, and this is a
terrible blow to the system. People talk the language of law, and at
the beginning of protests in the Mashtots Park the government said –
do not talk to me the language of law. This is the clash of old and
new. The old was dragged into the legal field where it lost.
Did the new win?
It was impossible otherwise, and it is not only numbers. In 1988, 5
people started the movement who claimed to constitutional law. Later,
this became the psychology of missions. There was a poster in Russia –
we are not complaining, we are the employers so we sack.’ Public
policy is being created this way.
The authorities must change the work style otherwise…?
We must ignore the government. When the society realizes that law must
be respected, law becomes a powerful force against lawlessness, and
then the end comes. This understanding has come though most doubts
remain. But a society that understands law cannot make a compromise
becomes a different society. We do not tolerate anything except
violations of law. A complete society must be united in the rejection
of a single offense.
A self-determined citizen is the enemy of the current system, and they
understand what they mean by the slogan `I am the master’. Taron
Margaryan, in fact, said the park is their property, and people said
no, it’s our property. Taron brought himself to a standstill.
Can the civil society be represented in the parliament?
The creation of adequate mechanisms of elections is one of the
political problems of the society. There are no other ways to form a
government of people. The absence of these mechanisms leads to the
emergence of clans.
From: Baghdasarian
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/comments25366.html