The level of democracy and the rule of law in the country depend on the chief executive’s character only by 5 percent. The president can be cunning and revengeful, can be calm and restrained; some nuances depend on that, it can have a positive or a negative impact on some fields, but it doesn’t determine anything in principle. That is the reason why I sometimes get surprised when not only ordinary citizens, but also commentators, social and political figures start to discuss the merits or demerits of candidates for president. However, we don’t choose a godfather for our children, in order to make up our mind given such characteristics. For example, Hrant Bagratyan’s character is no great shakes; he is rather arrogant and ill-tempered, but he is the only one who puts forward an understandable, comprehensible – at least for me – proposals of improving the country’s condition. 10 percent of our life depends on that, programs and ideas.
So 5 percent the president’s person, 10 percent his program. And what about the rest? I know that I am going to express a very unpopular idea, but the rest depends on us. Whoever is the president, the Prime Minister or, say, the Minister of Culture, the situation will be the same, if we don’t demand of them what we need. However tyrannical their characters are, however empty and meaningless the programs they put forward are, they will not be able to resist society’s long-lasting and organized pressure. Certainly, the opposite is the case too; any angel with his brilliant program will not resist the temptation of abusing power, if there is no social pressure. I am sure that if 10 000 people, instead of 100, gather outside the prosecutor’s office on Fridays, the government will be compelled to change its unfair verdict on Tigran Arakelyan. If as many men demand that they not give the pastures of Syunik to Iranian herdsmen, no one will venture to do that.
The problem is whether we really want that and hundreds of other problems to be solved or we just want to live a better life “personally,” and gossip in real or virtual corners and grumble about one’s own, as well as “these people’s” unfortunate life. In that sense, both aggressive rejection and blind worship of candidates and other politicians are absolutely meaningless. It seems to me that it is by no means worth spending time and energy on that. Very little depends on those people, only 15 percent of our life, so to speak. The rest is in our hands.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
