WHAT DID THE ELECTIONS GIVE TO THE AMERICAN ARMENIANS?
Khazhak Mkrtchian "Hayrenik" ("Motherland"), USA
Yerkir, Armenia
Nov 13 2006
The US congressional elections held on November 7 were analyzed from
different perspectives. The American Armenians had their criteria
for such analysis based on the impact they would have on the issues
of interest for the Armenians.
The party affiliation of individual American Armenians, the nature
of their business, the state of residence and other factors of
course determine their individual views of the elections. However,
these factors have no impact on the collective assessment of the
American Armenians. The most important factor in this case is the
elected official’s position on issues of interest for the Armenians
irrespective of whether he is a republican or a democrat.
If we look at the elections from this perspective, the Armenians might
have lost in terms of the number of officials that have a pro-Armenian
position. However, the results of the elections can overall be assessed
as positive based on several facts. The first positive development in
this respect is the resignation of Denis Hastert and Nancy Pelosi’s
becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The former was known for his tendency of yielding to pressure from
the executive and excluding the issue of the Genocide recognition
from the agenda. It should be noted that the instructions Hastert
was receiving did not come exclusively from Republican sources. In
several cases the democratic executive was pressuring Hastert.
This cast some shadow on the Armenians’ optimism regarding Nancy
Pelosi. However, the Armenians’ optimism connected with Pelosi has
some ground. The latter has repeatedly taken pro-Armenian positions
and her pre-election promises inspire hope that she will stick to
her positions.
The election of New Jersey representative Bob Menendez is of special
importance for the American Armenians for two reasons. First,
Menendez took an important position during the discussion of the US
Ambassador’s candidacy. This issue is still open, therefore, Menendez’
presence is important in terms of continuing the efforts and achieving
a pro-Armenian outcome.
Second, the results of these elections further strengthened the
connection between the American Armenians and Menendez because when
the results of the exit polls questioned Menendez’ election, ARF’s
Hay Dat Committee of New Jersey took a principled position on the
issue and expressed its support to Menendez based on the latter’s
pro-Armenian position on issues of interest for the Armenians.
Taking into consideration the above-mentioned facts, we can state
that the results of the November 7 elections can be assessed as
positive for the American Armenians. However, in order to achieve
positive results from the elections it will be necessary to use this
historical opportunity properly, to double our joint efforts and
support the work of Hay Dat Committee that has taken up the mission
of pursuing the Armenian question.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
