FORUM SYNOPSIS:
POLITICAL CLIMATE IN ARMENIA
On Wednesday, June 6, 2007, Birthright Armenia organized a forum about the Current Political Climate in Armenia. The invited speakers this time were Ms. Amalia Kostanian, Director of Transparency International Armenia and Mr. David Petrossian, a veteran political analyst.
Ms. Kostanian began her presentation with the description of the current situation in Armenian political life. “It is a very important period for our country as we are in between two main elections- the parliamentary elections which passed on May 12 and the presidential ones which will take place in the spring of 2008”, she said. Ms. Kostanian shared with the audience a story of AVC volunteer and BR participant Armen Boyajian who came to Armenia right before the elections and had the opportunity to work with Transparency International Armenia during the pre-election period and also at the day of the elections. “I am quite sure that he did not have any idea what is going on here and what will happen during that period of time, but now I can say that he has captured the whole picture of the Armenian political landscape” Ms. Kostanian emphasized.
Mr. Petrossian began his presentation by describing what exactly happened before, during and after the elections and talked about the current balance of power in government. He stated, “Today we have a situation which can be called a one and half party system, where real power is in the hands of a small group of people, technically representing different parties, but in reality all part of the same network.” The parties that entered Parliament are the pro-governmental Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation which where primarily responsible for the conduct of the elections. Another party - Orinats Yerkir which presents itself as an opposition party, is in cahoots with the government according to Mr. Petrossian. The last part in parliament, in real opposition, is the Heritage party, led by Raffi Hovhanissian. Mr. Petrossian also stated that the radical opposition did not enter the Parliament. “Before the elections the expectations of society were connected with the creation of an alliance of opposition forces which would make the electorates choice easier, but that did not come to fruition and people give their votes to a party which does not represent the radical opposition i.e. the Heritage party” he said.
Mr. Petrossian also made a short review of different elections in last 15 years. “After 1995 all the elections that took place in Armenia were falsified to some extent, although the parliamentary elections of 1999 had less violations and represented the real distribution of power. That picture changed after the terrorist attack in parliament and the assassination of former prime minister Vazgen Sarkissian, on October 27th, 1999” the lecturer stated.
After the presentation, Mary Vardazarian, AVC volunteer and BR participant said that she had participated in a seminar organized by Armenian National Movement representatives where the main topic was the falsification during the elections. Mr. Petrossian replied that the Armenian National Movement, the first leadership party in independent Armenia, had the opportunity to create the tradition of fair elections. “In 1996 they had two options: to create fair rules of the game and leave a positive impression with the electorate, or to falsify the 1996 elections and hold on to power. Unfortunately they chose the second path, and lost all credibility with the people”.
At the end of the forum, Ms. Kostanian said that what was presented is not a pessimistic, rather a realistic assessment of the situation. “The Diaspora youth can become a very positive force in democratic processes in Armenia, because you don’t have any baggage, you bring the traditions of democratic societies, and your experience can be very useful for our country” she concluded.
