Yesterday I had an opportunity to talk with Hovhannes Igityan, a member of the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM), and that conversation: a. added to my optimism; b. convinced me that we will advance in politics, as well as the economy and culture, only thanks to thinking people. There surely are such people in the government too, but they account for the minority.
The majority are those who cannot think at all and can only count money. There also are some people who are not theoretically deprived of the ability to think, but they have deliberately gone for orthodox dogmatism, and they feel comfortable in that shell in all respects, “With the wise management of our leader” etc. That second type dominates in the opposition camp too, and in this case, the reason is not dogmatism, but rather mind laziness and lack of independence. “Dull” dogmatism frees from responsibility.
In that sense, Hrant Bagratyan’s nomination as an independent candidate for president was a step forward. He, as well as members of his team and his supporters, including same Hovhannes Igityan, talks as an ardent oppositionist, but he speaks only the language of politics without street “additions.” Perhaps, what they say doesn’t cause massive ecstasy, because it doesn’t contain threats to put into jail and confiscate the property, which please the majority of our population. However, it is obvious that Bagratyan has been pondering over his program not for a few months to announce his candidacy for president, but for a few years considering and being concerned about the situation in our country and examining the experience of other countries.
As a result of that, Bagratyan doesn’t offer to replace “bad guys” with “good guys,” but to create mechanisms, institutions that will contribute to democracy, the rule of law and economic progress. For example, “The mayor of Yerevan should be elected by citizens of Yerevan through direct elections.” Or, “All judges of trial courts are elected by the people, and the presidents of appellate courts, trial courts and specialized courts are appointed by the President of the Republic of Armenia according to the procedure provided for by the Constitution. Besides, the institution of competitive court is adopted in Armenia.” Or, “The arbitrary use of the supreme interest of the state by the government should be banned. Suspension of private property can be understood as the supreme interest only when a referendum is held in the given district (community).”
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Perhaps those are not ideal solutions; it is not ruled out that they are very bad proposals. However, they give us food for thought, which we lack.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
