Saddam’s, Gaddafi’s and Assad’s regimes were dictatorial. True dictatorial without alternative political streams and media, with people’ “disappearances” and mass tortures. But what happens in these countries after the overthrow of these regimes? Did anarchy and chaos make the population happy? Aren’t now several dozens more people killed there than during the dictatorship? And, of course, one should not conclude that the dictatorship is good and tolerable, simply, if we follow how, in what manner these regimes failed, what terrible human sufferings it has brought, you think that perhaps it would be better of the dictatorship had remained.
The regime in Armenia (Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, as well as, for instance, Venezuela, Bolivia and in several other countries) is not dictatorial, but certainly nor democratic. There have been and still continue to be attempts to make drastic changes thru this-or-that “campaign” starting with sending people to “Zvartnots” airport in 1988 (which led to the death of a young man), breaking up the head of Chairman of the Supreme Council, Hrant Voskanyan, continued with invasion of the NDP members to the National Assembly in 1996 and ending with shooting in the direction of the police by an air pistol. I know that each one has its own argument, its own interpretation of events and so on. But in my understanding, no matter how sympathetic are the revolutionaries, no matter who “just” they are in their fight, any of such campaign actually does not lead us to go forward.
For this very reason, today, I am against amending the Constitution, regardless of its motivation, which is in the focus of Armenia’s opposition members. It is clear that they should be guided by the tactics of political struggle (another question as to what extent it is correct). I am guided by my conservative views. The adoption of this type of new Constitution is overly radical, it assumes drastic changes, entirely new governance mechanisms are put to action by this document, which are not tested in our country, I am also not sure that the political system, the society is ready for those changes. Under these conditions, it is preferable not to take a risk.
The opposition members are saying, the “people will rebel” and so on. They are naïve, the “people” will be very happy for it is an occasion of an “out of turn” electoral bribing.
Read also
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
