One of my coworkers describes the parliamentary debates with a three leveled system: 1/ ‘laughing out loudly’, 2/ ‘having fun’, 3/ ‘street fight’, which is the highest level of the parliamentary verbal fight. Yesterday and today it became clear that this classification will also keep its meaning at the 6th National Assembly. It’s clear that the majority will force whatever they want on the other. (For instance, if it was allowed to create the NA Committee for Human Rights and if the head of it were Edmon Marukyan, there would definitely not be a change of the government. But, using the terminology of the representatives of the majority, to not surrender in any issue is a ‘principle matter’). The ‘Tsarukyan’ alliance will oppose to the majority in secondary questions, but in fundamental issues, they will not be an obstacle for the implementation of the government’s programs. The three leveled debates will be provoked by ‘Yelq’ with Nikol Pashinyan as its head.
I know people, who spend their free time at a café or park benches while listening to Nikol Pashinyan’s speeches. They are, indeed, sharp, judging, well built in terms of drama and are full of striking phrases and sarcastic comparisons. I just do not think that it is necessary to make a ‘shouting’ or a ‘torrid’ for every small issue, or as the new NA president says, ‘birdie’ (‘Ptichka’/ mark). When it comes to serious issues, rhetorical art will be more needed, and then the ‘shouting’ will be again treated as a normal, everyday occurrence.
The problem is that the media and first of all the websites, do not go deeper as to how an issue described in this or that bill, should be solved: only a few people are worried about this. Instead, people are really interested in who put whom in his place. But there can be issues, where the society will really have to decide something, but will not be able to because the issue will be buried in rhetorical tricks.
The number of this type of debates can be reduced in the hall, especially when the ‘corridor interviews’ are making the media and the users ‘crack up’. Of course, Arakel Movsisyan and Mher Sedrakyan are not in the assembly anymore. Instead, the general Seyran Saroyan is still there, with whom the interviews of the journalists can drag out endlessly and not bore the Youtube users. But from this point of view, the rising star of the parliamentary corridors is the previous mayor of Gyumri Vardan Ghulasyan, who hasn’t revealed all of his talents yet. Thus, the lovers of ‘politics’ will definitely have something to do at cafes.
Aram Abrahamyan
