Coalitions in our country have always had a sad fate. For example, the two sides of the four-sided coalition formed after the 2008 presidential election are actually in the opposition today and bash the government’s drawbacks so severely (often legitimately) that one can conclude that they have never been a part of the government. The majority of the pro-government coalition Republic, including the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), formed in the 1990s became Yerkrapah overnight standing by the government. The Republic Coalition was basically destroyed after the events of October 27. Different members of the opposition coalition Justice are in different places today. Etcetera. The reason is that members of these coalitions have not only ideological, but also tactical similarities. The meaning of all them is the following – there is a force that has chances of governing or appearing in the parliament, this force has aspirations to create an illusion of some “consolidation” around it and for the sake of its ambitions, it drags a few other figures, which usually appear in the status of “poor relatives.” They get bored with that rather humiliating role sooner or later and at their earliest convenience, those “attached” figures abandon the consolidator.
The Heritage Party, which made an obvious mistake before the latest parliamentary election including the Free Democrats and the so-called “public sector” (frankly speaking, I don’t quite understand what it really means), is not an exception either. As a result, the figures who efficiently worked in the former convocation of the parliament and were positively thought of by the people haven’t become MPs this time making way for the Free Democrats who certainly are very worthy people, but don’t fit in with the Heritage Party “brand.” I personally continue to think of Ruben Hakobyan as a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), probably because he represented that party in the first “fake” parliament of 1995 alone. Now the situation in the Heritage Party parliamentary group is more than strange – the Free Democrats Party seems to wish to separate from the Heritage Party; Raffi Hovhannisyan has renounced the office and the only pure Heritage Party member in the parliament is Zaruhi Postanjyan.
One should consider that experience at least for the future. Dear party members, don’t form coalitions, don’t join alliances, don’t “consolidate” anyone. It never bears fruit.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
