In sports, there is a tactic called zone defense. For example, in football – defenders and midfielders pass the ball on their own half of the field; they don’t want to risk and get on the opponent’s nerves along with that. If the players are technically well-prepared, it can last for a few seconds (10-15 passes), although this tactic is dangerous too – the opponent may press, take possession of the ball and organize a dangerous attack. Pressing the opponent makes them send the ball up the field, increase the speed and finish the stage of zone defense. However, if there is no particular pressing, the passing of the ball may seem to last forever and in that case, the spectators will unavoidably start to whistle. Moreover, both your and the opponent’s fans may whistle because of such an “unimpressive” play.
In the political “premier league,” the three main teams have stuck to that very tactic so far. In the “second division,” where teams and players are more, we see mainly “offensive football,” which, certainly, is more interesting. However, since the aspirations and stakes are lower, interesting combinations and dribbling seem to be an aim in themselves, a sort of “art for art’s sake.” That is the very reason why even if, say, Paruyr Hayrikyan dribbles past Aram Harutyunyan, or Aram Karapetyan hits a very good header in Raffi Hovhannisyan’s penalty area, there will certainly be applause, but you won’t hear joyful roaring or shouting.
It is a different matter, when it comes to the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and the Armenian National Congress (ANC). Here we have strictly zone defense. Certainly, sometimes the fast forwards of the opposing teams – for example, Naira Zohrabyan or Armen Ashotyan – try to play a pressing game against the opponent’s defense not allowing them to pass the ball easily, but in that case, the defenders pass the ball to the goalkeepers – Tigran Urikhanyan, Eduard Sharmazanov and Arman Musinyan – who “ease the game,” “Nothing is clear yet, political consultations are under way.” The basis of the zone defense of these three is the following – the ANC will say nothing, unless the PAP says and the PAP will say when it is clear what leverage the government is ready to give to it, whether it is enough or not.
Zone defense, as I have already said, cannot last forever. It becomes clear from the example of chess – the stage of exchanging pieces starts sooner or later. Sometimes that exchange goes so far that only kings are left on the board. And it means that it has “ended in a draw.”
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Aram Abrahamyan
