Prior to the 1996 presidential election, I took TV interviews with all presidential candidates. Vazgen Manukyan said that when he comes to power, the RPA party will answer for its crimes, and the whole plunder will be returned to the people. To my clarifying question of whether “all of them will be judged,” Mr. Manukyan responded, “No, only the ones who deserve it.” Approximate the same was said by Ashot Manucharyan. In this case, I decided to make a clarification about “what for, for example, Babken Ararksyan will be judged?” The presidential candidate’s answer was as follows: “For a woman living in socially poor conditions has committed a suicide by throwing herself out of the window.” “So, should the NA Speaker go to law for it?” I asked. “Of course,” replied Manucharyan with an emphasis.
The scheme of the political struggle in Armenia has not been changed over 20 years. The opposition constantly intimidates the authorities that after the change of the government, the latter will appear in a terrible situation, if not hanging on the trees, then at least at the “Nubarashen” Penitentiary, and all the palaces, as people say, along with “lands, oxen, cows and farms” will be taken away from the hands of the authorities and “returned to the people.” To the point, the oppositions are absolutely confident that even after the change of government, the courts will be in the pocket of the executive power and they (well, not they but “the people” in the face of them) will take revenge upon the previous authorities.
Do the authorities deserve such a treatment? Apparently, yes. But the matter, in this case, is about the “methodology” of the political struggle. It, indeed, has its strengths. First of all, the majority of residents like it, now, the palaces of the rich will be destroyed and will be distributed to the people brick by brick, and each brick will make it possible to live one to two weeks. Secondly, the regime, the so-called, is in “constant panic” from these intimidations, “Oops when these ones come, what will they bring over our heads?” But it also has its reverse side. The promised “horrible prospects” to lose the power compel the same “regime” to consolidate its power in all decisive moments and to resort to every possible and impossible methods to preserve the power.
I suggest, also in purely pragmatic considerations, changing the political philosophy, not saying every minute, “You are a criminal, see what’s gonna happen to you,” and lower the level of aggressiveness. Every attack implies an adequate protection, it is almost a physical law. Attack-protection scheme functions when people are divorced and are not perceived a part of one “organism”. If you are one organism, then you think about your health, what should you do to heal the organism and make it beneficial to all its parts. Sometimes, it is worth talking about such things.
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Aram ABRAHAMYAN
