Certainly, it is hard to tell at this moment what will be the end of the political (or civic) movement initiated by Raffi Hovhannisyan. Frankly speaking, I personally don’t see necessary conditions for making the president resign or the National Assembly be dissolved. But it doesn’t mean that our country hasn’t changed, and it is not a result of this presidential election alone. Armenia started to change in the spring of 2011 when prisoners of conscience
were released, and Freedom Square was opened to opposition’s rallies. Hats off to the Armenian National Congress (ANC), as well as the coalition forces of the time – the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), and the Rule of Law Party (RLP) – for being able to organize the first dialogue between the government and the opposition, which, although failed (mainly because of the government), but now when the time is ripe for a new dialogue, the previous experience will surely be taken into account. And it is very probable that such a dialogue will take place, because it is obvious that neither Serzh Sargsyan, nor Raffi Hovhannisyan wants the situation to turn into a confrontation. In any case, they don’t have old scores to settle with each other, as it has happened in a set of other cases. It just would be desirable, if that dialogue was prepared a bit at the “expert level,” so to say, after which the options of solution would be offered to the leaders. Otherwise, I have no doubt that another meeting, be it in the Presidential Palace or in Freedom Square, will be in a friendly atmosphere, but it will not yield results. However, it is more important that Freedom Square itself has changed in the broad sense of that word. The “APC women” and Clara Khachikovnas don’t rule here anymore; the youth walking here don’t think of themselves as “Red Guards” of the revolution and apostles of the divine truth whose goal is to eliminate any kind of dissidence with “hot metal” and reveal all those who have secretly “sold out” and “traitors.” Certainly, Raffi Hovhannisyan, along with his team, is the author of that positive change. Not being their supporter, not sharing their revolutionary ideas, one can easily walk in Freedom Square, meeting with warm and kind treatment. It seems to me that this, regardless of the final results, is a method of uniting society, not dividing it. And the government should realize that it is not a merely opposition movement this time; this is a more serious and long-lasting force, and the situation can stabilize only after swift and radical changes. And it is not only and not so much about wages and pensions.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
