It’s interesting that many of the new government’s activities, which are liked by the majority of people, are not attractive for me. For example, when the prime minister threatens to “lay people out on the asphalt” or to “throw people against the walls.” Or when some anti-revolutionary television channels are discovered. Or, when he fires ministers of the ARFD and Prosperous Armenia due to his emotions. And the opposite is true too; what most people hate, I think is right. I am particularly speaking about appointing Hunan Poghosyan the governor of Syunik.
People who criticize this step do not bring forth any arguments against it besides the fact that Poghosyan is a former police officer. By the way, it’s interesting that Suren Abrahamyan also was in this same position; he was a police officer during the Soviet era and during the first few years of independence, and after he was governor, he worked as mayor of Yerevan and as Minister of Internal Affairs. Being a police officer is not a deadly sin. Did Hunan Poghosyan carry out orders which didn’t bring honor to his uniform? Yes. But, if there is no illegality to anything he did, then our state not only should, but must make use of Poghosyan’s abilities and the abilities of those like him. Only appointing those who protested is, to put it gently, the wrong thing to do politically.
If we are to speak more about his positive actions, then I think that granting amnesty is another one. The more widespread it is, the better. The ability to forgive brings honor to both the individual and to the state. Yes, it’s desirable that amnesty isn’t used to correct court mistakes or illegal decisions. But, any humanitarian act cleans and makes the public environment more honest- of course, if that action has a pure purpose. In 1953, after Stalin’s death, amnesty was granted to people on a large scale. Over one million people were freed, some of whom were dangerous criminals (however, there also were a lot of people who were victims of Stalin’s persecutions). There was a lot of tension in many neighborhoods of the USSR as a result of the amnesty. But, according to lawyers, that was what the Minister of Internal Affairs at the time, Lavrentiy Beria, intended. The intention now, however, is the opposite: to take the load off the situation and turn to a new page. Let’s hope that that’s what will happen.
