As always, I try to soberly assess the situation, without joy, without malevolence, and without artificial pessimism: “nothing will work anyway”.
The election of Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister was the only reasonable solution to the current political crisis, any other solution could complicate the situation. The rotation of power is also a chance to overcome stagnation and despair. It is also a chance in the sense that the high degree of legitimacy creates a certain amount of strength that the government can maintain, but it can also lose it as it happened in the early 90’s. Taking that experience into account, I suppose that changes should be done quickly while the citizens have trust. In a few months when people realize that they are not in paradise, the desire to change something will face tighter resistance. (By the way, the resistance of old nomenclature is not excluded, but at the moment it can not be a decisive factor).
Again, as in the case of the previous government, as well as in this new government, I stress not only the necessity to carry out reforms from the top but also the need for internal reform of the society. Today we are talking about the atmosphere of hatred, but let us be honest, that atmosphere was not created during the last revolution, it always existed, and the problem is beyond the government-opposition, the government-citizens relations.
Our culture lacks the habit of sincerely rejoicing someone else’s successes, and that is one of the main reasons for that atmosphere. Can you imagine an “average” Armenian family sitting over the table and not discussing others’ wealth, positions, victories in competitions, etc.? In post-revolutionary period, these feelings will naturally become worse: “if they do not dismiss him, if they do not sue him, if they do not shoot him, then everything was in vain”. This is a favorable period for taking revenge.
The second issue we must overcome is the paternalistic illusions. Today, people ask me in the streets, “Will at least Nikol be able to change something?”. I answer: Nikol or the new government alone cannot. If each of us does not contribute, then nothing will work. The new Prime Minister says, for example, demand cash register receipts. Will we?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
