The Prime Minister and the Government of Armenia are appropriate targets
In Armenia, the opposition usually evades, I would even say, is lazy to form a serious political agenda. Why is it necessary to make a head or tail of something, if we can say, “immediate resignation (of a president, prime minister, or head of the Department of Transport of Municipality), and that’s it?” Everybody is happy, the parties are happy, people admire their courage and totally agree with the calls of “immediate resignation”, and the ruling party keeps ruling for years and eating all that falls at hand. In this case, the Republican Party is doing this for over 20 years, at the beginning as a ANM satellite, later “independently.”
If the opposition (or the alternative) does not raise key issues of policy agenda, it is, of course, extremely beneficial for the authorities, which is also absolutely not interested in talking about them.
Which is the most important event of the past with Armenia, joining the Customs Union, or the funded pensions? The latter, as well as the economic problems were talked about on Saturday by Serzh Sargsyan and Gagik Tsarukyan, with the greatest pleasure. Not a single word about the Customs Union. (The excuses that no one knows what the Customs Union is, are already not the point, the road map has been published).
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The the “funded” is fairly “neutral” topic, in the sense that, at the most, nothing prevents the President to say, “it’s not nice, dear Tigran” and postpone the matter for 4 years until the end of his mandate. Or, to say, “Armen Movsisyan, you did not negotiate a good price for gas, if it were Vardan Oskanyan, he would perfectly negotiate.”
Here, the “slyness” of our state and, consequently, the political system appears. The real levers of power are in the hands of the president, the forces, army, tax, customs, and so on do obey him. The Government and the prime minister bear the responsibility for the economic situation, contracts, funded and the rest, and since our economic situation was always worse, and would not be better in the near future, they become very suitable targets for everyone and, if necessary, a scapegoat. The government is a “matron” with no leverages, whom the “director” may dismiss at any time.
The problem, therefore, is systemic. Government members came to the Parliament, opposition MPs “pickaxe” them at all points, obtain the reputation of tireless warriors for people before the television cameras, and the ministers justify to the extent of their language skill. However, they are not the ultimate decision-makers, it is the president who is exempt from the unpleasant responsibility to accept direct strikes on him.
It is not so, let’s say, in the United States, where there is no prime minister, and the senators and congressmen express their discontent with president’s administration, which is the very government. It is not so, of course, in the countries where the parliament is the government system. In both cases, the opposition puts forward the most important political issues before the authorities, and in case of failing to solve them, it requires resignations not just in the air, but organizes effective legal measures for such resignation.
In Armenian, Vazgen Sargsyan was the only powerful Prime Minister. As to how it ended, it is known.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
