As a journalist, I have reported all of the elections in independent Armenia starting with the 1991 presidential elections. All of the elections went on a different path, and their results were usually objected to by the side that officially ‘lost.’
But today, I do not wish to write about rigged elections as this topic has been beaten to death, but about the institution of elections in general and about whether or not they are so crucial in a country’s history.
In 2016, populist Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, whose statements, to put it mildly, did not always correspond to reality. And four years later, a person was elected who seems to have signs of age-related dementia. Has the United States stopped being the most powerful and exemplary country in the world?
There is no such thing as democratic elections in Russia, and the same person has been in power for 20 years and will continue to rule for a long time, constantly canceling the terms of his previous tenure. And if the Russian president changed every 4 to 8 years, would Russia be a different country? I highly doubt it.
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The elected bodies in neighboring Iran are generally of secondary importance; the most important issues are solved by high-ranking clerics and their ‘guardians of the revolution.’ And most Iranians are happy with that system.
Let’s come back to Armenia. For years, the will of the citizens was grossly violated during the elections, and in 2018, everything happened ‘according to the will of the people.’ And what? Did we gain anything from that? Does a legitimate government work better than an illegitimate one? Are elections free and fair and is the government legitimate in Azerbaijan, which defeated us in war?
So, what am I saying? You do not have to worry so much about the elections and their outcome. If the majority of citizens in a given country are convinced that the Earth is flat, then no matter what kind of government that country has or how that government was elected, the citizens will be guided by their ‘knowledge.’ If the majority of Armenian citizens are indifferent towards whether or not they have an independent state, we will eventually lose our statehood. And no government can help or hinder that.
Of course, the elections are very important to those who are preparing to become deputies or ministers. But not so much for the rest of us.
Aram Abrahamyan
