When I was a schoolboy, my textbooks claimed that the only party that ruled at the time in our country was based on democratic centralism. Let me remind that this principle presupposes: a. all bodies are elected; b. they regularly make reports; c. there is strict party discipline, and the minority submits to the majority; d. the decisions of the superiors are mandatory for the inferiors. It seems there is nothing bad in those principles; how else can decisions be made other than by the majority, and then the minority will be compelled to make up its mind to either accept or leave. However, that structure of the above-mentioned party made it possible for Stalin to become a tyrant in 1920s-30s; being a master of intrigue, he would crush the “antiparty groups,” creating “majorities” from time to time, then he would crush the crushers and so on – to such an extent that all thinking people were forced out, and only those who praised the “brilliant leader” remained. I by no means want to say that we have a Stalinist regime in our country these days and stuff like that. However, let us agree that our party members haven’t managed to devise a structure of a party that would differ from the above-mentioned one over the past 22 years. As a result, either decisions are made unilaterally, or “hostile elements” appear in the party, of which that party regularly purges itself and crystallizes. Can you imagine, for example, that some delegate would rise up at the latest congress of the Republican Party and say that he was against or at least abstained from announcing Serzh Sargsyan’s candidacy for president? That person would have been offered to withdraw membership of the party and leave the Concert and Sports Complex at best.
The time approaches when decisions in the Armenian National Congress (ANC) will also be made unilaterally. The majority of those who are “against the course” are out of the ANC, and the other’s leaving is just a matter of time. It probably is Petros Makeyan’s turn who in turn expelled Ghukas Mehrabyan yesterday, since he had appeared “out of the course” of Makeyan’s own Democratic Motherland Party. Big and small parties are the models of our country. In this case, however, it is not ruled out that they will take the Democratic Motherland Party seal from Petros and give it to Ghukas, and in that case, decisions in the ANC will be made unilaterally too. In a nutshell, it is “democratic centralism” and its best manifestations.
Actually, inside parties, everything depends on who manages the offices, and who pays the functionaries. That person is the owner, and the rest are renters. Is it possible to build parties based on other principles? I don’t know; I have never been a party member.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
