According to the Chairman of the “Civil Consciousness” Liberal NGO Narek Samsonyan, all those attempts are not favoured by the vast majority of the citizens.
-Parliamentary election campaign has begun. How would you assess the overall election campaign?
-The election campaign proceeds much peacefully than one would have expected. Not taking into account the permanent attempts to aggravate the political situation by some political forces, we can state that the anticipated clashes foresaw prior to the beginning of the campaign are now eliminated by the ruling political force. In terms of the ideological debate, as in all previous elections, these elections do not notably stand out from them. Generally speaking, the political component is missing from the entire political campaign. Moreover, the much needed political component has been replaced by the promises of political bribe given to the people by politicians like Gagik Tsarukyan and Arakel Movsisyan as well as the insatiable desire for making a storm in a teacup of ORO alliance. In terms of political campaign techniques, this political campaign again does not stand out, not counting the literate political campaign run by the ruling RPA. Apart from the RPA no other political force uses modern political campaign techniques. Rather, previously used political campaign techniques with no tangible benefits are being used now, namely walking along the streets shouting slogans through loudspeakers.
-Do you think our society sees a chance of palpable change that any of the political parties registered for the coming parliamentary elections can bring about?
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-Unfortunately, the moral and psychological state of our society is at such a level where every single change today is perceived to be an opportunity for getting election bribe, which all of us usually witness during the entire political campaign. And if aforementioned is being added to the failing and similar toasts-level political programs suggested by the political parties participating in the election, then the picture is complete.
– In the course of the political campaign when the representatives of political forces meet the people, the latter voice their dissatisfaction with the fact that again the opposition forces run separately and are not united for the sake of forming a strong opposition. How would you assess the opportunities of all the opposition forces?
-First, about the “unification”. What do they mean by asking why the opposition forces do not unite; as such a question is a non-political one to ask? What should unite them-the desire of a government change? But let me ask you whether the key to all solutions to the problems our country faces lies in the change of the government? I am sure that our country today seeks a real and strong civil society more than a government change. In a strong civil society people realize the importance of being a citizen and not just a dweller. This in its turn will lead to the formation of a new political culture and institutional changes. In this context, all the political forces you mentioned only play an inhibitory role here just as much as the ruling political force. Unfortunately, by now the notion of the term “non-authorities force” is deviated. For instance, how can one consider “Tsarukyan” alliance, ORO alliance, as well as the reborn “Rule of Law Party” or “Armenian Revolutionary Federation” party be alternative to the ruling party? Yes, aforementioned political forces tend to be the so-called non-authorities but not opposition. From all the political parties registered for the coming parliamentary elections, only ANC can be considered opposition, which electorate is divided among the next to opposition forces “
Unfortunately, by now the notion of the term “non-authorities force” is deviated. For instance, how can one consider “Tsarukyan” alliance, ORO alliance, as well as the reborn “Rule of Law Party” or “Armenian Revolutionary Federation” party be alternative to the ruling party? Yes, aforementioned political forces tend to be the so-called non-authorities but not opposition. From all the political parties registered for the coming parliamentary elections, only ANC can be considered opposition, which electorate is divided among the next to opposition forces “Yelq” alliance and “Free Democrats” Party as well. Unfortunately, two out of the aforementioned three political forces-ANC and “Free Democrats” cannot overcome the election threshold. The situation differs with the “Yelq” alliance, but I assume that they can reach the election threshold only, consequently not becoming a palpable counterbalance to the currently ruling political force in the next National Assembly.
-The face of the RPA political campaign mostly is the Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and a couple of yet not discredited politicians. Do you view this as a proper political calculation? Will the society vote for them?
-This is not a proper political calculation but the result of political campaign techniques. Generally speaking, the RPA has surprisingly put into practice some western political campaign techniques, effectiveness of which has been demonstrated in many countries so far. The people will certainly vote for the RPA, but it is difficult to say what would be the motivation of it. The RPA will surely use the entire arsenal at its disposal, including all the administrative resources, criminal ties, election bribery. Adding to all of this the vague political campaign run by its political opponents and the quite effective campaigning techniques run by the RPA, the picture clarifies. Taking into account all the aforementioned, we can foresee the RPA receive the stable majority vote required by the new system of government.
-Do you foresee any unpredictable developments for the ruling party? Can force majeure situations happen in the course of the political campaigning? For instance, can situations like the recent one in Jrarat and the death of Arthur Sargsyan (known as a man who secretly delivered food for “Sasna Tsrer” organization members during the events of last summer) be considered as force majeure situations for the ruling political force?
– Arthur Sargsyan’s death was a dreadful event for broad masses. At the same time it was the most unfavorable development for the authorities. Of course, the authorities must assiduously prove the legal needs behind Arthur Sargsyan’s second arrest and the fact whether Arthur’s hunger strike played any role in his death. On the other hand, the ones who speculate Arthur’s death for the sake of their own political interests must be strongly condemned and within this framework the public opinion must be opposed to such manifestations. The armed clash taken place in Jrarat was tried hard to be politically speculated, but several days after the father of the teenager who suffered from that very clash announced during his interview to one of the news agencies that there is no need to look for a political reason in what had happened. He also stated that they had already clarified the situation with Lyova Yeranosyan and wanted to put an end to that story. But, again, after aforementioned happened Vardan Oskanyan stood firm on his belief that what had happened in
But, again, after aforementioned happened Vardan Oskanyan stood firm on his belief that what had happened in Jrarat was a political persecution and they will do their best to disclose the story. The public announcements (Samvel Babayan’s comments, the message sent by Varuzhan Avetisyan and Zhirayr Sefilyan in support of the ORO alliance to solve the problems with violence) following this incident have made it evident that this political force quite probably realizing that they do not have much support from the people, will try to do its best to destabilize the political situation during both pre and post elections. Plus, taking into consideration the fact that this political force is favoured by a number of veterans and the armed group calling themselves “Sasna Tsrer”, we can state that there are all the necessary grounds to suspect that there might be a “SPS-2”. Well, I hope that the relevant bodies take into consideration this and this time they will be able to prevent the possible threats endangering our statehood.
-Assessing the current political debate going on in the framework of the political campaigning how would you evaluate the end result of the next parliament? Will it differ from the current one?
-The current political debate level is absolutely incompatible with the parliamentary system of government. Moreover, the current quality traits of the political system are not satisfactory for the parliamentary system of government. Combining the political campaign quality with the outcomes of the coming parliamentary elections, it becomes evident that the latter will not differ at all.
-Do you foresee any post-election developments?
-The possibility of post- election developments is connected with the quality of the overall election process. If we compare the current political campaigning to the previous ones, then it is impossible not to see the positive shift that had taken place concerning the given equal opportunities to all political forces to compete in the course of this very political campaign. The new electoral code together with its all shortcomings can be considered as a consensual one, since its adoption was a result of wide political consolidation. Consequently, in contrast to the political campaigning for previous general elections, this one does not give any ground for post-election developments. The post-election developments can only be connected with the issue of ensuring the election process. If on the Election Day there are such violations that happened in the past, then it would be impossible to escape from post-election developments. Aforementioned concerns only those political forces with fair judgments, but as I have already mentioned, the issue of post-election legitimacy is at question by ORO alliance. Even now they try hard to destabilize the political situation in the country and not dependant on the things happening in the course of the campaigning or during the elections; they will certainly try to inflame post-election developments. Fortunately, all the attempts to get voted as well as to destabilize the political situation are doomed to failure, as long as those attempts can never be favoured by the vast majority of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia.
