There was a very “rough” talk about my becoming a member of a party when I was a student. I would receive the Lenin pension, and I was told that I should become a Communist, in order that it was proper. I don’t want to pretend that I was too much opposed to that idea; I started to inquire, and they explained to me very quickly that in order to become a member of a party, a student had to give a 300-ruble bribe, i.e. three months’ worth of my Lenin pension (a villager, a soldier, and a laborer, in particular, would become a Communist for free). Naturally, I was not going to spend so much money on an unclear project; in 1981-82, 100 rubles was not a small sum.
In 1992-94 when I was the press secretary of the President of the Republic of Armenia, some orthodox members of the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM) would complain that I could be a secret “Dashnak” (the worst people for the government of the time were “Dashnaks”). However, to his credit, Levon Ter-Petrossian wouldn’t take note of that talk. I liked the PANM ideology and still like it to a certain extent today; that is the reason why I voted for Hrant Bagratyan in the latest presidential election. Unfortunately, the PANM has been dissolved, and it is not clear yet what the Armenian National Congress (ANC) will become; in any case, it seems they don’t talk much about liberalism in the new party. However, in the early part of the 1990s, I didn’t become a member of that party, because next to restrained and rational figures like Aram Mayilyan and Hovhannes Igityan, there were “falcons” like Albert Baghdasaryan and the late Eduard Yegoryan (who, admittedly, revised their positions afterwards). I have always liked moderates, regardless of their party affiliation; exaltation of “falcons” is not dear to me.
My “remote” connections with parties are confined to this. Besides the aforementioned circumstances, there are two primary reasons why I am not a member of a party. The first one is that in Armenia (as well as probably in the other post-Soviet countries), it is common that you should admire every step of your party leader, and regardless of whether you like it or not, you have to glorify him. There are elements of a cult of personality in all of our parties.
The second reason is a professional one; it is impossible to work as a journalist, being a member of a party, because regardless of your intentions, your every word will be perceived as party propaganda. Suppose, I write Barcelona plays better than Real. There will surely be an “ill-wisher” who will ask: “Has your position been approved by your primary party organization?”
Read also
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
