No matter on how many issues I don’t agree with Levon Zurabyan, I don’t doubt for one second that what he is accused of – intrigues, struggle for power inside the Armenian National Congress (ANC) – is an absolute lie. No matter how I treat Nikol Pashinyan personally, I am convinced that the accusations against him – he has been instructed to weaken the ANC etc. – don’t have anything to do with the reality. Regardless of what – right or wrong – ideas Davit Shahnazaryan expresses, I would like the youths writing inappropriate things about him to pay attention to one fact; he has been in such places and situations, where those youths might have acted differently. Whatever mistakes Levon Ter-Petrossian made after September 21, 2007 – I think returning to politics was a mistake in the first place – he will go down in history not as an opposition leader, but as the first president of the third republic, whose presidency was marked with liberation of a part of our fatherland. I have written many times that we were very lucky to have him, not a rotten communist or an adventurous “dissident,” as president in one of the most difficult periods in our history; thanks to Ter-Petrossian, although damaged considerably, our state’s ship passed through a very narrow “strait.”
Now the issue of Hrant Bagratyan’s nomination for president is on the agenda. If such a thing happens, anti-propaganda will start for sure. Moreover, blows will be struck from both sides. It is clear what the government’s anti-propaganda will be like; he ruined the country when he was the Prime Minister, he turned the people who had huge industrial potential into street vendors, he attached farmers to the land etc. In a nutshell, all communist myths, which are very dear to the majority of our population, will be brought to the surface. However, criticism will be received from the other camp too; how could he do that, if Ter-Petrossian hasn’t announced his candidacy, he legitimizes Serzh Sargsyan’s regime, imitation of elections etc. by that.
Whereas Bagratyan, regardless of the mistakes he made in the past, is not only a brilliant economist, but also an adherent to a particular ideology, which, you will agree, is a rare thing today. Thanks to these two qualities, both the parliamentary majority and the Cabinet attach importance to his opinion as an MP. The reason is very simple; he puts forward professional arguments, which are based on a certain system of values. Therefore, he has every reason to announce his candidacy.
What I am talking about is that one shouldn’t cause unnecessary showdowns in the opposition camp to try to improve one’s reputation at the expense of proving that the opponent is wrong. The “joint candidate” is certainly a tale. However, I think mutual respect is absolutely realistic.
Read also
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
