THE LIKE TAKES THE LIKE, LOVE WILL COME LATER
Lragir.am
21 July 06
The citizens of Armenia may wonder why Andranik Margaryan and Serge
Sargsyan are gathering senior and junior officials and members of
parliament in the Republican Party and making them Republicans.
Businessmen, governors, ministers, members of parliament become
members of this political party. The answer is evident. They are made
Republicans to serve the political, which is the same as the personal
interests of Andranik Margaryan and Serge Sargsyan. It is also clear
to the first-grade children of schools, the directors and teachers
of which are "annexed" by the Republican.
But people, and especially children, who have not managed to study
the peculiarities, everyday life and relations of the Armenian elite
yet, wonder whether it is impossible that the ministers, businessmen,
senior and junior officials and members of parliament serve Andranik
Margaryan and Serge Sargsyan without becoming Republican. The question
is interesting, if not a core question. In fact, why do they order
everyone to become members of the Republican Party? Perhaps, they
are in doubt. They suspect that one day these officials, businessmen,
ministers will betray them. One day they will serve someone else than
Andranik Margaryan and Serge Sargsyan. Margaryan and Sargsyan fear
that these people will not serve them.
But does membership solve the problem of no loyalty? Andranik Margaryan
and Serge Sargsyan know that it does not. How can a person be loyal
if he has already betrayed a political party? Or how can a person be
loyal if he was forced into the Republican Party? How can a person
be loyal if he becomes member of the Republican Party to be in the
center of force? What if another center of force appears? How are they
going to keep this person in the Republican Party. These people will
betray Andranik Margaryan and Serge Sargsyan as soon as the first
opportunity arises, and they will not have any moral rights against
the betrayers. They can only use legislative bars against betrayal,
like in Russia, for instance. A member of one faction cannot go to
another faction. Russians thus tried to prevent betrayal. In Armenia
they can adopt this model. The problem is, however, that betrayal is
not an external phenomenon, it only has, but it also may not have
an external manifestation. Betrayal first occurs in one’s soul and
mind. And it is not a primitive or void philosophy to crush against
the Nzhdehian ideology of the Republican Party of Armenia.
Betrayal is a highly concrete notion. Both Andranik Margaryan and Serge
Sargsyan know this. Otherwise, how can they explain why six years
ago Andranik Margaryan demanded within a circle of other people the
resignation of Serge Sargsyan, who led the administration of someone
else, whereas now he shares his party "bed" with this man? And the
more people they admit to the part, the more the mistrust of Andranik
Margaryan and Serge Sargsyan towards these people and each other will
grow. And together they will suspect everyone, because they perfectly
know everyone, they also know each other well and they also know that
the others know them well too. A membership ticket is not a guarantee
that a parliamentarian businessman or an official who became member
of the Republican Party will remain faithful to the party. Even if
he became member of the political party voluntarily, he knew that if
he did not enter the party, he would be suspected as well.
The presumption of faithfulness is not accepted in the Armenian
elite. And by failing to join they would miss the historical chance
of betrayal. Meanwhile, they know very well that the holy of holies of
processes in Armenia is betrayal. You can do everything early or late
but you have to betray on time. Nobody is to blame. They are taught
to do so, therefore they do not trust "pupils" and call them to the
party later to be able to accuse them of betrayal of their "bosses",
"guardians", "teachers". They force them into cohabitation, hoping
that love will come later.
HAKOB BADALYAN