I know that because of my question oppositionists and representatives of their electorate will pan me, but my job is to ask questions; why is Raffi Hovhannisyan convinced that he is the one who was elected President of the Republic of Armenia. That there was electoral fraud, flaws “traditionally” characteristic of that process, that logical analysis of the numbers from polling places raises great doubts, that the results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC), as always, don’t seem trustworthy, all that is true, and many proofs of that are in our newspaper and on our website too. That the government doesn’t raise a finger to punish the election criminals is also a fact. However, even taking all that into account, can a candidate who came second, according to the official results, declare himself the president of the republic or slogans like “Vazgen for president,” “Stepan for president,” “Levon for president,” and “Raffi for president” just have psychological importance. It is obvious that the ordinary people will put forward the following argument, “Don’t you know that all the people voted for Raffi, how many neighbors and relatives I have who voted for Raffi?” Ordinary citizens are not required to put forward more serious arguments. But politicians are supposed to make more substantial points. Moreover, I personally have so much liking for Raffi Hovhannisyan that if he or the well-known representatives of the Heritage Party give me a document that will immediately make clear that Raffi won, say, 65.81 or 100 percent of the vote, I will not check that document; I will just believe them.
However, since there is no such document, perhaps one can say not that “I was elected,” “I am elected by the nation,” but that “the election was conducted in such a way that its official results cannot be trusted.” It will also allow the opposition to maneuver. Otherwise, the opposition leader personally puts himself in an awkward position; I was elected, bring me my throne. Or the latest version; I was elected president, and now I will die, commit hara-kiri to prove that. I am not sure that this is a political agenda.
Hunger strike itself is probably a means of attracting attention and struggling, although Raffi Hovhannisyan himself said some 10 days ago that there would be no suffering, no hunger strike in Freedom Square. Secondly, one should make political moves in parallel with that move of self-sacrifice. For example, as Aram Sargsyan, the leader of the Republic Party, suggests, to call on the members of the National Assembly who deem themselves opposition to vacate their seats. It is interesting who will pay heed to that call.
…Anyway, let me also remind that Mahatma Gandhi was neither a president, nor a candidate for president, and he didn’t demand anyone’s resignation with his hunger strike. His hunger strikes were merely moral steps and aimed at preventing ethnic clashes in his country.
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ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
