DON’T SLEEP IN THE NEW DAY
IGOR MURADYAN
Lragir.am
14-07-2007 15:04:37
In Nagorno-Karabakh there are no political leaders, there are
administrative leaders and functionaries. Therefore, it is uneasy to
use the word `NKR political leadership’, and it sounds artificial.
Nevertheless, the same administrators and functionaries have stated for
a number of times that the ultimate political goal is the international
recognition of the political independence of NKR. Apparently,
proceeding from this general goal, elections are held in NKR which are
meant to emphasize the legitimacy of the present government. Local
elections, which the government overlooked self-assuredly, had an
unexpected outcome and, as President Arkady Ghukasyan described,
`appeared as a referendum held against the government.’ The
parliamentary election was already a parody of elections and delivered
a heavy blow to the political future of NKR. This election campaign is
held in an atmosphere of intimidation affecting any citizen of the
country. Witnesses say the workers of administrations, state-financed
offices, civil society activists, citizens who have never displayed
civil activity are intimidated. The general perception is that NKR has
never seen such intimidation with threats to dismiss and administrative
settling of scores, neither in the period of the state committee for
state of emergency, nor in the period of the `military dictatorship’.
The government has major concerns not only regarding the possible
victory of the opposition but also regarding the political success of
the `alternative’ presidential candidate. Apparently, they not only
need a corresponding amount of ballot stuffing but also legitimacy of
the outcome of the election. Don’t they want too much?
But how can the high-flown statements about reaching independence and
the efforts to persuade the progressive and non-progressive mankind
that the presidential election will be held in uncoupled pressure and
the use of the so-called administrative resource be combined? The
events show that the government is indifferent towards the opinion of
the international community which must first of all recognize the
sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. None of the unrecognized
states will dare hold this stance. We may conclude that thereby NKR in
the face of its government has already gained independence; in
addition, it is the ultimate level of independence which has never
existed elsewhere. It is possible that the Karabakh government acts so
confidently and denies compromise because it finally got disappointed
with the international community and decided to challenge with their
perceptions of law and state. It is possible that between intimidation
of voters and a game of preference the Karabakh government watches the
TV show about Father Makhno and impresses what the Americans named
`real politik’. Nevertheless, demagogical statements are made, such as
`we do not care for the opinion of the world, we hold the election for
ourselves’. In fact, for ourselves and only for ourselves, turning
Karabakh into a privatized peaceful haven. (In fact, what is better, a
`haven’ or a `zone’?)
It should be noted that the Karabakh society has unintentionally
divided into two parts: those who hate the government but are scared or
indifferent and those who hate the government and are ready to fight
this arbitrariness and fulfill their civil duty. There is, certainly, a
certain group of citizens who are committed to the use of the
administrative resource with an excited voice and trembling hands, but
they are not many, about 50 people, including the members of the
pro-government parties. It is a category of people who have `yielded’
one leader already and are always ready to `yield’ the next leader. By
the way, it has not become clear at all whether Robert Kocharyan
supports the `common candidate’ or not? Isn’t it possible to make it
clear, at least on the last day of the election campaign?
Has anyone asked the question which presidential candidate Azerbaijan,
the European community, and generally everyone who still hopes that the
Karabakh problem will eventually become absorbed as a metastasis of
national pride on the prostitute body of European democracy?
Apparently, of all the possible pretenders for the post of president of
NKR Europe and Azerbaijan would prefer Arkady Ghukasyan as a
perceptible, safe, voiceless, undemanding and fabulously conformist
acting president. During the address to the young audience at the
Slavic University of Yerevan, which was televised and shown on
different TV channels in the capacity of an old joke, Arkady Ghukasyan
clearly and frankly explained that he is the `common candidate’ for NKR
president. The Democratic world has corresponding experience when it
cherished illusions regarding the Kosovar leader Ibrahim Rugov and the
Abkhazian president Sergey Bahapsh they eventually regretted. They have
already led their peoples to independence. There is no interested
country and side which does not want to have idiots lead the
unrecognized countries and controlled territories who have no
principles, are voiceless, entangled in their personal interests. (By
the way, idiot is an Italian word which means a person who does not
perceive the outer world adequately and not one of the idealist
personages of F. Dostoyevsky.) They need no educated people who try
seriously to understand the processes of world politics, but minor
peddlers or impostor Robin Hoods. When something happens, they will
lead their people towards the disaster, they are meant for that.
The corresponding tables of the European Commission, the CoE Council of
Ministers, the OSCE, the PACE, and most importantly the corporation for
studies of the Karabakh problem, which was set up a couple of years ago
in the U.K. and has monopolized `paperwork’ on the Karabakh issue, are
laden with reports and notes on the events underway in NKR. It is an
invaluable political resource for our opponents and insulting facture
for our proponents. None of the informed people, and the Karabakh
government has never been among them, doubts that besides public
statements and evaluations the European Community and the United States
have special files which reflect the real state of things in different
strands of the political reality. Now when an anti-political Sabbath is
underway in NKR, the only positive thing is the political struggle,
when there is a candidate who does not make a compromise, when the
stance of this candidate is higher and more significant than the notion
of opposition itself, the oppositionist organizational structure, the
oppositionist policy. No democratic organization of the West can give
an absolutely negative evaluation of the present election since the
independent candidate and his independent team is running in the
election.
About the Karabakh movement I remember February 13 of 1988 best: `the
city woke up and was already free.’ No doubt, `February 13′ will
repeat. It is important not to sleep in the new day. Set the alarm.