I do not think that we have fully understood what local self-government means. Many people, including community leaders, think that the local self-government leaders are the leaders of Soviet “kolkhozes” or “sovkhozes” who are subordinate to the district committee secretary, and everything is based off of this secretary’s desires. Now the leaders of communities are called village leaders, the district committee secretaries are governors, and the 3rd or 4th Central Committee secretary in charge of agriculture is now the Minister of Territorial Administration and Development. Not only are people my age confused about this, but young people are as well. So what does genetic memory mean here?
The meeting held on Monday between the government and village leaders was not too different from such meetings held before the revolution. The topics of discussion were almost completely the same: they cannot gather the money for the land and property in their communities and 42 billion AMD has accumulated, the lists of job positions in the village centers and schools have grown massively due to people wanting their brides and brother-in-laws given jobs, the government will only give money to the villages that have shown results (do you remember one of the calls of action from a previous Prime Minister on pen and paper?). So basically, you aren’t working well, dear community leaders, you aren’t carrying out plans, you aren’t in unison about the changes taking place in the country.
But all of that isn’t so essential. The village leaders’ treatment of the central authorities is more important. The same groveling and flattering style. It’s good that they didn’t kill a lamb under the Prime Minister’s feet. The majority of the village leaders have left the Republican Party. They truly weren’t interested in the RPA to begin with, much like they weren’t interested in the Pan-Armenian National Movement or the Communist Party. These people don’t care about politics at all; they simply join parties in order to organize their own and their communities’ affairs. For the sake of justice, we must note that at least the current government isn’t forcing them to become members of Civil Contract. But the nature of the century’s psychology and relationships doesn’t change them. The village leader is a small feudal class that is subordinate to a larger one. And that will continue for several centuries unless the current government takes drastic steps. The government does not have that opportunity now.
I do not think that Angela Merkel gathers the village leaders of Germany in order to teach them how to use their brains. They all know their rights and responsibilities, and no one is dependent on that.
Aram Abrahamyan
