“After the events of March, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) has always promised Armenian society change and radical solution. Moreover, as Aram Sargsyan would say, the regime will surely be toppled in 4 days. Levon Ter-Petrossian would say they would topple the regime. What do they say now? I would say at the time that nothing could be ‘sure,’ as far as society is concerned,” political scientist Levon Shirinyan made this comment on the Congress members’ criticism of Hrant Bagratyan during a conversation with www.aravot.am. According to their opinion, those who announce their candidacies legitimize the Serzh Sargsyan regime.
According to the political scientist, “We should be realists. There is a revolutionary path, which is the same around the world. Armenia doesn’t have the necessary resources. There are no human resources. If you want to carry out a revolution, you should have at least 100 drams in your pocket to take public transport. In that case, money may come from abroad, because a revolution needs financing and all. Presently, the Congress is not a party to raise an issue of party discipline and to criticize Bagratyan. Now both Bagratyan and I are free citizens. I don’t share those ideas of theirs. They call everyone a traitor, but they have betrayed the people, as far as treachery is concerned. No one has betrayed the ANC; they just couldn’t do anything.”
The political scientist singled out a line from Hrant Bagratyan’s speech, “He said a brilliant thing. He said they had made a mistake by not populating the liberated territories. Which of former government officials has said something like that? This one is independent from Serzh Sargsyan and Levon Ter-Petrossian, as well as many others. If these nominees bring about something positive for our society, they should remain. Those who shot at the people outside the National Assembly in 1996 and said that there wouldn’t be any change of power caused the current situation, there is no denying.”
As for what will happen to the ANC, the political scientist thinks that its destiny is already predetermined. “The ANC is not a party. They rallied to topple the ruling regime, they were unsuccessful, now they should disperse, what is the problem? The ANC should recover and establish a party. Let them establish a liberal party, hold a founding congress. Armenia will only benefit from that. The rest, who is a traitor and who is not… if Bagratyan can play Franklin Roosevelt’s role, fine, let him do that.”
