Boycott can be an effective tool of political struggle only when it draws broad social response and impedes carrying out the projects of the opponents at least to some extent. It can happen particularly in cases, when some political force takes extremely fundamentalist, uncompromising position, it doesn’t go for any dialogues and compromises with opponents and manages to always keep the level of social tension high. If all that is not there, if one accepts the rules of the game common in the country, this way or another and one plays in that framework, then boycott doesn’t make a particular impression and doesn’t achieve its goal.
By that, I certainly don’t want to say that having a dialogue, finding a compromise and being a “systemic” opposition is a bad thing. It is characteristic that even the Sardarapat movement publicly urged to boycott the National Assembly election – predicting quite well how it would be held, the members of that initiative most probably understood that this boycott would not yield anything and such calls would be just pointless.
The Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the Heritage Party made a very good decision to participate in the National Assembly election, not to reject the offices was also as appropriate, to assume those solemnly or not is just a technical issue and is not of utmost importance. Tens of thousands of people voted for those parties and assumingly, they did so, in order that their MPs, their representatives may defend their, citizens’, interests. Not carrying out that representation, expecting that the rule of bandits will destroy itself or that mountains will move by themselves is not the best solution.
Perhaps respectful opposition MPs would oppose that important issues were not discussed during the first meetings of the new convocation of the National Assembly. But probably it is not so either. I think that, for example, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) representatives did the right thing that they expressed their opinion on the issue of forming the National Assembly commissions. One should have really granted more powers to the opposition (certainly, not only the ARF) here. Voicing an alternative opinion is not little as it is, even when it is clear that a decision will not be made based on that opinion.
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The Cabinet will be formed within the upcoming month, then the executive body of the country will put forward its program. I for one am interested what Hrant Bagatyan will say about d within the upcoming month, then the executive body of the country will put forward its program.ew conthis program as an MP, a legislator and not during an interview given to Aravot newspaper. Or when Minister of Foreign Affairs Nalbandyan makes a speech on some issue concerning foreign policy, it is essential what questions MPs Alexander Arzumanyan, Vartan Oskanian and Raffi Hovhannisyan will ask. The parliament is also for that.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
