MY WEAPON IS HIDING
James Hakobyan

Lragir
Feb 13 2008
Armenia

There is usually one counterargument to any pledge by presidential
candidates to bring about changes in the country. The Republican
candidate, his team and the leaving president Robert Kocharyan answer
their opponents that they apparently have not read the Constitution
and do not know that the president is not empowered to make such
changes because the parliament and the government hold the levers
of governance, and the parliament and government are held by the
Republican Party. If we assume that this counterargument of the
government is logical, the aspiration of Serge Sargsyan to become
president becomes illogical. If he is the leader of the parliament
majority and the prime minister nominated by this majority, why
does he want to be a president who does not possess the levers to
make necessary changes in the country or the levers are with the
parliament and the government? In that case, Serge Sargsyan would
not need to occupy any position at all because he is the leader of
the majority party, the Republican Party. By leading the Republican
Party, he would actually lead the country, if the Constitution vests
government in the parliamentary majority.

Consequently, Serge Sargsyan has not read the Constitution either or he
is being driven by inertia towards presidency, or yet Serge Sargsyan
is aware that the government of Armenia has nothing to do with the
Constitution and if the post of president passes to the opposition,
most members of his party may appear in the camp of that opposition,
forgetting about the powers vested in them by the Constitution,
and forsaking the leader of their party. After all, Serge Sargsyan
knows best the degree of loyalty and motivation of devotion of his
own team. Therefore, perhaps the Republican candidate appears to the
society during his campaign absolutely alone, knowing that his team
is not one he can be proud of. Or maybe Serge Sargsyan does not know
who his team is, therefore he is alone on the stage.

Formally, the Republican Party is his team. But what is the Republican
Party? It is a severely exaggerated body where people have gathered
who think Serge Sargsyan needs them and they need Serge Sargsyan. These
people might feel offended that their leader avoids appearing with them
in public. However, the feeling of need offsets insult, making think
that if Serge Sargsyan steps on the stage alone, it is the right way.

And unlike Levon Ter-Petrosyan, for instance, who states that if
he comes to power, people will get posts who will have possibly
contributed to the victory of the movement he leads, Serge Sargsyan
will give posts to people who hid the best during his election
campaign, not disturbing him. And perhaps Serge Sargsyan’s team is
the people who are hiding today.