An extract from Republican Party of Armenia deputy chairman Razmik Zohrabyan’s interview with “Aravot” daily newspaper, “You see, the so-called oligarchs announce their candidacies for majority rule elections and those people are elected. The majority rule must exist as long as people vote for those figures. Certainly, an intellectual or an intelligent man cannot repair a roof, make expenditure, but a businessman can, i.e. our society still has a need for that and if we close that window, most probably, other things will happen. And in this instance the society seems to have a need for help and those businessmen provide that help. I don’t see anything bad here, one can say that it is some electoral, charity process (laughs).” I laugh together with Mr. Zohrabyan. Because that MP has described electoral and in a broader sense political processes that have taken place inArmeniafor the past 17 years absolutely accurately. Since the people, the society doesn’t need intellectual people, they need people who will repair roofs and make expenditure, it is absolutely logical that those people are the ones who should appear in the parliament. You would probably ask why. It is quite obvious – in order that they enjoy the joys of life along with other non-intellectual people that hold offices in the Cabinet and other government bodies. The people and the society that has already been finally disappointed and demoralized for the past 17 years must be satisfied with repaired roofs and other small expenses made for them. That is its demand and if a supply is made against that, represented by MPs elected through the majority rule, there will be “other things”, probably social upheaval. The most interesting thing is that there is a grain of rationality in what Mr. Zohrabyan says. He describes the reality in its static condition. People want to watch bloody TV series, they are shown those, they want to listen to rabis (labor art) music, it is played for them, they want to have MPs repair their roofs, they repair those. In a nutshell, at the request of a great number of laborers, politics is replaced by charity.
Very good. Suppose it is so. A question arises why they do not conduct 100% majority rule elections. More roofs will be repaired. But in this case what the parties are for. Including the Republican Party.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
