On April 19th, I interviewed then-Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and asked him how he views adulation. The context of my question was that Serzh Sargsyan’s party, the RPA, had unanimously nominated his candidacy, and his political allies spent all day and night praising him, emphasizing the fact that their leader was irreplaceable. Of course, my interviewee said that he views adulation very negatively. All leading figures, and perhaps many regular people, would respond the same way.
But adulation is a serious test for anyone. I would even call it a challenge. And God forbid that any political leader think that the words of praise aimed at them are fake. That is a straight path to getting cut off from reality, which will sooner or later lead a person to their destruction.
I remembered all of that when I was watching the “non-election of Prime Minister” in the National Assembly. It seems that the current deputies are mostly revolutionaries, and not since April of this year, but for the course of their whole lives. The sun rose again on our country, and that is all thanks to our current Prime Minister. It’s understandable why people idolize our beloved leader and how he is able to include current deputies on his election ballot. He can also promote that their political parties take third or fourth place in the elections with two or three percent of the votes. By saying “promote,” I don’t mean in the same way as before. I simply mean that if Nikol Pashinyan says that a certain political party is anti-revolutionary and “dark,” then its chances will reduce to nothing.
I don’t see any other way out for the Prime Minister other than for him to stop all of this idolatry. This not only is in Pashinyan’s interests but in the state’s, too. In ancient times, there was a saying that “they fought with sword, water, and copper trumpets.” This meant that the Ancient Greeks (or perhaps Romans) considered different hardships to be less than authority and glory.
Yes, the government belongs to the people. Besides that, I have some reservations about the old framework. But we’ll leave that for some other time.
Aram Abrahamyan
