“They have numbered people and you congratulate. What reason for congratulation is there? I don’t attach any importance to that. I hate that numbering,” Hmayak Hovhannisyan, the president of the Union of Political Scientists of the Republic of Armenia, responded in this manner to congratulations on taking the 9th passing place on the PAP list for proportional representation. www.aravot.am inquired why he had agreed, in that case, to be included in the PAP list, he could have just refused. “No, I mean the manner itself. I don’t like this manner of numbering. They number humans,” explained Hmayak Hovhannisyan, adding, “I don’t say express condolences, however, there is no particular reason for congratulating either, especially given the fact that you know quite well that I was lucky to be the second after Karen Demirchyan in the electoral processes of 1999. Therefore, it is not such a big achievement for me to be among the first ten.”
We inquired from Hmayak Hovhannisyan why Artur Baghdasaryan, the Rule of Law Party (RLP) leader, had rushed to state about endorsing Serzh Sargsyan in the 2013 election in the run-up to the parliamentary election and a year before the presidential election. “In order to have chances to pass the 5% margin,” was the answer.
In response to a question what the president had aimed at by his speech, the political scientist said, “I am just surprised at the fact that Serzh Sargsyan has no idea what morality is anymore. Famous French king Louis XIV used to say, ‘I am the state,’ whereas Serzh Sargsyan has changed it a bit and says those who support him are moral or those are moral who convey their courtesy to me. It is a specific notion of morality. Because in reality, it is not right to use the word ‘morality’ while talking about Artur Baghdasaryan and people like him who called Serzh Sargsyan a potential or real murderer at the time. Potential in case of Artur Baghdasaryan and real in case of Artashes Geghamyan and Viktor Dallakyan. It is cynical to perceive them as moral personalities, providing only that they endorse Serzh Sargsyan for their interests, statuses and, why not, also rating, in order that they use administrative resource for restoring that rating. Morality is there where man is consistent in his assessments and doesn’t try to sell his own words.”
Hmayak Hovhannisyan refused to answer the question whether the president’s speech had responded to the critique voiced at the PAP congress, “I am not a member of the PAP, I have given my consent enjoying special status, I have given my consent to participate in the election on the PAP list. My contribution to the PAP election campaign will be making public all of my speeches made in the parliaments of second and third convocations and certainly, I will meet expectations by that, since my name decorates their list. I will not get into inter-party things – firstly the PAP is a party that has no need for my protection. There are intellectual giants there, let them protect themselves.”
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Nelly GRIGORYAN
