In May 2018, immediately after the change of government, Pashinyan ordered the removal of Serzh Sargsyan’s pictures from the walls of all offices of state institutions, stating that pictures of Armenian leaders would NEVER AGAIN be hung on the walls of officials. Note that the Prime Minister did not say that elected leaders can be hung on the wall, and those not elected can not. Now, however, that distinction is being made, and Arayik Harutyunyan, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, yesterday justified “decorating” the walls with Pashinyan’s portraits by saying that he, unlike Serzh Sargsyan, is an elected leader.
In my opinion, Pashinyan in 2018 was more correct than today. Because the problem in this case is not to be elected or not to be elected, but to go or not to go in a democratic way. For me, hanging a photo of a person in the office is a manifestation of Eastern despotism, an unbridled cult of personality. (I know that sometimes it is done in democracies, but that is not a criterion for me). By hanging this picture, the official shows that the leader’s actions are uninvestigated, that saying any critical words about them is an insult to the symbol of the state. By the way, in which law is it written that the Prime Minister is the symbol of the country, like a flag, anthem, or coat of arms? Maybe the president is the symbol as the head of state? Or the NA Speaker, because we are a parliamentary country? And why is the Secretary of the Security Council not a symbol?
Since I, as a journalist, am already following the evolution of the fourth government, I can say that it does not matter whether the government is revolutionary in its origins or purely nomenclature. It takes 2-3 years and everyone rolls in the same hole, in the same swamp, which is called boring bureaucracy. It is absolutely not necessary for a faceless official to burn the picture of the Prime Minister (as the Minister of Justice does). They hang the picture of the “boss” because everyone else does it, and if they do not do it, they will have big problems. And words and “excuses” become the same. When Mikhail Baghdasarov or Barsegh Beglaryan won fuel tenders, it was corruption. And when companies affiliated with Alen Simonyan or Khachatur Sukiasyan win a tender, it is not corruption. “No, what do you mean? It was a fair competition.” They almost say that it is not corruption because Pashinyan is an elected leader. That fact seems to cover everything.
… Arayik Harutyunyan will never go to work by subway again. “It does not suit him.”
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Aram Abrahamyan
