It seemed that the upcoming elections of the National Assembly of Armenia will be very similar to the previous ones. Now, we also think that there will be many similarities, especially in terms of election frauds and electoral bribery. However, it is already evident that there will be significant differences as well. Now, I try to describe the pre-election situation in general terms because the situation changes so rapidly and unexpectedly that your assumption made a while ago seems ridiculous even to you. And what was unbelievable a few days ago seems to become a true reality.
When Viktor Dallakyan announced that he is forming a party and intends to participate in the parliamentary elections, we were very surprised. But we were more surprised when he informed that he and his party are going to be an opposition. And when after the resignation, Seyran Ohnayan announced that he is going to be engaged in the politics, we were much surprised especially since Seyran Ohanyan was also announcing that he will operate in the opposition field. In both cases, we were so surprised that at first, we could not believe that such things can happen.
In both cases, we were surprised as we had not yet lost the ability to be surprised. Then when Oskanyan, Aram G. Sargsyan and Hayrikyan joined Ohanyan’s and Dallakyan’s initiated alliance, we were not surprised anymore, unlike the former Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan. Later, when Tigran Karapetich replenished this alliance, apparently, it was already usual for the former ombudsman. Now, whoever forms a pre-election alliance with anyone, none of us will be surprised. Now, we can be surprised about the opposite case: we would be such surprised if some of them would form a pre-election alliance driven by political ideas. We hope that there will be some who would cause this surprise to us.
In the past, of course, the National Assembly elections in Armenia was quite ideological and personalized, especially with regard to the participation of oligarchs and wealthy, but in the past, in counterbalance to anti-ideological, the pre-election field was also full of ideological candidates, and most of them pursued European values. Now, our pro-Westerners are gone, are not seen. So far, are not seen. There is still time, hopefully, they will appear. We do not want to think that the pre-election grants from abroad have been reduced substantially, and that is the reason for their not showing up.
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Pro-Russians are not particularly seen too, but in the past, pro-Russians were not particularly demonstrating their pro-Russianism and were not shouting about their pro-Russianism, with the exception of perhaps Artashes Geghamyan. They were mostly talking about the virtues of the authorities than about Russia. Nevertheless, the pre-election relative silence of our pro-Western people has other reasons too. One of them perhaps is that our parliamentary elections in terms of timing are followed by the US newly elected President Donald Trump’s election. Some of our pro-Western are silent because if they speak it may become clear that they are more pro-Western than Trump. Anyway, Trump won in the United States but in Armenia, the Marxism wins because many here have already realized that the being determines the consciousness. In other words, it is not the idea that matters but becoming a parliamentarian.
Voskan YEREVANTSI
