Movses Shahverdyan, the leader of the Armenian Labor Socialist Party (ALSP), doesn’t agree with the statement made by Raffi Hovhannisyan, the Heritage Party leader, recently that there could have been victims on April 9, hundreds of people could have been killed. “Politicians, in particular those of that level and significance, should make a bit more careful statements. And who was going to kill a hundred people? Police officers with whose chief he walked for quite a while? Or his supporters? At whose hands would those one hundred people have died?” our interlocutor asks, adding that he was at the forefront of the struggle that day and didn’t see police officers who were inclined to kill people. Shahverdyan didn’t see people with such intentions among Hovhannisyan’s supporters either. Moreover, he thinks that everything was very peaceful that day, and developments were in accordance with the logic of political processes. He still asserts that political steps that were taken were not right and led to the result we have. Let us remind that the ALSP endorsed Raffi Hovhannisyan in the presidential election. “Given the city council election, one can clearly
assert that in Armenia, it is impossible to achieve a change of power through the electoral system; one should give up on that idea. All those statements that one should prepare for the next election are meaningless. Our country and people don’t have that resource. Let us not forget that we are still at war and cannot wage a victorious war with such society. Pinning hopes on the external forces that they will not allow a war to break out is not serious either. Check out what happened 100 years ago and draw consequences.
“What happened 100 years ago is repeating today,” Movses Shahverdyan says, adding that one shouldn’t be surprised anymore at the fact that the powers that be cling on to power and by no means wish to give in. Our interlocutor thinks that the main issue is whether the government’s rivals can take adequate steps or not. “Rather interesting processes have taken place in Armenia in the past 5-6 months, and, in my opinion, as a result of them, a whole new situation in terms of political, moral, psychological, and social thinking has been created in Armenia these days. I think that if the future processes are used correctly, it will yield certain results,” the ALSP leader thinks. In response to a question what he meant, our interlocutor said: “It seems that there is a social perception that the processes didn’t yield results, because society expected serious changes from the last two elections. People expected a real change of power or real changes in the government, which would lead to further change in all aspects of people’s life. However, outwardly, everything is the same, and it caused sentiment among many people that nothing changed again, as a result of which people don’t leave Armenia anymore, they flee.
“However, I call on my compatriots not to rush into conclusions and make rash decisions of emigrating, for all that the situation is difficult and hard. If the right steps are taken, and the social demand is clearly formulated, one can carry out a change of power in Armenia within 2-3 months. These are not empty, hollow words; this is a result of a though-out program. One needs a specific action plan, which is there. One needs a team that different political forces and civic initiatives can form; they are patriotic and hard-working people. And one needs financing.”
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Our interlocutor doesn’t think that the task is to carry out a revolution; everything can happen as a result of political steps too. “There is an interesting mentality in Armenia; everyone thinks that a doctor should be professional, a shoemaker too, but all those who have free time, financial means or willingness can engage in politics. It is about time that our political forces realize that only good professionals must engage in politics.” Our interlocutor doesn’t make public the sequence of steps that he considers right, it is not common, but he assures that there is a way out.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
