In November of last year, an opposition political alliance was formed that was composed of over a dozen political parties called “16+” or “17+.” This alliance, where the Dashnaks play a key role and which has its own candidate for Prime Minister (Vazgen Manukyan), has been active in the streets and squares of Yerevan over the past few months. Steps were taken that were effective, some actions were unsuccessful, the rhetoric was sometimes political and sometimes, in my opinion, “immoral.” I am not going to take on the role of a strict judge; let those in power do that. After all, people expressed their grief over our humiliating defeat in the war and its aftermath, quite accurately pointing out the culprit who, albeit, does not accept the blame.
But any movement has its beginning, and it must also have its end. At this stage, allow me to make a few remarks about the activities of this part of the opposition over the past 5 months. Let’s begin with the name. The name “Homeland Salvation Movement” seems too ambitious to me. There is only one savior, and there is no savior among mortals. So, we must be more modest.
The audience is more fundamental here. Pashinyan’s main audience consists of people with little to no education and little information who are living in a fantasy world and who do not care about the problems facing the nation and state. It is enough to show them the scarecrow of the “former regime,” and they will forget everything. The audience of the opposition is different. It is impossible to speak to this audience using the same language and the same level of arguments as Pashinyan uses when communicating with his audience.
In particular, the labels “capitulator” or “traitor” may seem arguable to the thinking audience. Since that audience, unlike Pashinyan’s electorate, is made up of people who are not gullible, they can ask questions such as whether the joint statement signed on November 9th was a capitulation treaty or how Pashinyan’s betrayal has been expressed. If a person is incapable of leading a country and is taking it from one failure to the next, does it automatically mean that he is a traitor?
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Therefore, this portion of the opposition needs to think about ways to fight. Did the situation change after the Prime Minister announced the day of the snap elections? The political parties in that alliance must either jointly or separately announce whether or not they will participate in the elections, if they will call for a boycott, or if they will, perhaps, simply ignore the elections (by the way, opening Baghramyan Avenue was the right choice on their part; keeping the street closed did not solve anything).
Finally, besides criticism, they must present something “positive” to the thinking audience in order to bring this country out of this situation.
Aram Abrahamyan
