And thus, there is clarity in the political arena. Yesterday, in the city of Vanadzor, PAP faction Secretary Naira Zohrabyan announced that the Trio has a single agenda, and this agenda is the change of government. “This government should leave,” said the PAP MP. It is reasonable to think the figure ranking high in the party hierarchy could not involved in spontaneous activities, and has agreed this statement with the first figure of her political party. Accordingly, it is the PAP party’s official position.
And this means at least two things. First, the 12 requirements by the non-governing forces are no longer relevant. It would be ridicule to compose an agenda in the following order: a/ I demand that you leave, b/ I demand that you eliminate the red lines. As compared with the first point, all the remaining points “fade out”. The requirements must be reformulated as follows: you go, I will come to power, and then give promises: I will eliminate all the red lines, speedometers, I will exempts everybody from taxes, banking interests, and will do so that oranges would grow on trees in winter in Armenia.
The second conclusion that can be made from this clarification of the political arena is that “not-government forces” expression in itself is no longer relevant. The very opposition demands change in power, and it has always been involved in it since about 1992 onwards.
In fact, it is a trap, in which our honorable opposition members always fall. Because the 12 requirements actually enable to maneuver, negotiate and achieve something. Maximalist demand means either I will destroy you, or you will destroy me, a zero-sum game. It’s a senseless waste of human and tangible resources, which usually ends in disappointment.
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…When in 1992, the Parliament was debating the Declaration of Independence, the Chairman of Supreme Council Levon Ter-Petrosyan was against references to genocide in this document. Many MPs, mostly communists, were making populist, “national liberation” speeches. (Eventually, pretty intricate wording was passed about “implementation of yearning desires of all Armenians and restoration of historical justice”, which was a reasonable compromise). The country leader brings the possibility of maneuvering as an argument. It is a school of political thinking, which, unfortunately, was not developed.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
