Robert Kocharyan, his supporters and propagators saw the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) behind all the oppositionists (even Arkadi Vardanyan) from 1998 till
2007. It was in their interest to see that backer, because the negative emotions related to the PANM government were still vivid in a part of the society. When, say, Stepan Demirchyan would talk, the propagators would immediately say that those are not Mr. Demirchyan’s thoughts, that in reality, his behavior reminded of the “former criminal regime.” Now some people see the second president behind the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP). There are certain “historical grounds” for that – the party and parliamentary group of the previous convocation were formed with the active participation of the then president. However, to perceive and to construe any step taken by the PAP in the context of that backer is either a delusion or a propaganda trick again.
It is clear that the active stage of political consultations is under way now. Vartan Oskanian and Levon Zurabyan also negotiate. The latter represents Levon Ter-Petrossian and whom does Oskanian represent? Whom does he report to about the negotiation results? I am inclined to think that mainly to Tsarukyan, because the very leader of his party is the probable candidate to be nominated. It is another matter that the condition of “leaving Kocharyan alone” is probably stipulated during those negotiations. It can be implied from the fact that the subject of Kocharyan (even with regard to the events of March 1) is carefully evaded in the speeches of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) members. However, those are not sufficient grounds to talk about him as a backer.
Generally, our politicians and commentators are too obsessed with seeing subtle overtones in everything, sometimes even looking for conspiracies. According to them, the world is some collection of puppets, which are moved by strings controlled from above by puppeteers, and the latter, in turn, are controlled by bigger bosses. (They call them by the elevated name Geopolitical Centers.) In reality, on the one hand, everything is much more simple, since the behavior of people, their groups and political forces doesn’t usually have so deeply-rooted reasons, on the other hand, it is much more complicated, since it is hard to find some regularity while comparing separately operating units.
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Certainly, it is easier to see backers everywhere. However, it seems to me that such a worldview is far from healthy perceptions. Do you remember a line in Vysotsky’s song, “This was all conceived by Churchill back in 1918”? You haven’t probably forgotten that this song is about a mental hospital.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
