WHO MAKES UP THE "PARTY OF STABILITY"?
Vardan Barseghyan

Hayots Ashkhar
Published on February 29, 2008

We have already analyzed the team of the "revolutionary movement",
we have spoken about the main groups included in it. It would be
interesting to make similar investigation in the opposite camp as well,
which we conditionally call "party of stability". The overwhelming
majority of society is against colored revolution. And this society
is naturally far not homogeneous it includes different groups.

The first group consists of those who, strange, as it may seem, don’t
suffer from sclerosis and haven’t forgotten about the catastrophic
consequences of the governing of Armenian Pan National Movement. They
perceive the return of Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Armenian Pan National
Movement as serious threat for the country. Whereas some of them
don’t cherish illusions towards the government in power, but on the
one hand, as they say, they choose the lesser of two evils, and on
the other hand they highly appreciate the stability provided by the
administration in power.

Second – those who have found their place in this life. Of course here
we don’t mean materialistic well-being (most of the revolutionaries,
softly speaking, are far not homeless). What we mean is their
moral-psychological attitude towards the reality. They can see the
slow but stable positive change in our lives during the last 10 years.

Third – those who are in the state machinery, and the majority of the
representatives of this spine. The stance of these people is obvious,
only because they didn’t respond to the appeal of the "movement"
to joint them, with the exception of the nephew of the ex-President,
Shahen Karamanukyan’s son.

Forth – the majority of entrepreneurs, employees of private companies
and intellectuals, that is to say those who are called "the consumers
of stability". It is another issue that these people will never take
to the streets to defend stability. Instead they defend the rear and
it is enough.

Fifth – the law enforcement bodies, the army and in general the force
structures. Here we must lay special emphasis on the army.

Those "Yerkrapah" (defenders of the land) representatives who joined
Levon Ter-Petrosyan are like a drop in an ocean, in general:

a) Patriotic disposition is more emphasized in the army

b) The officers’ staff are gifted with state-oriented instinct

c) They are well conscious in the army that if due to the colored
revolution they manage to establish the power of cosmopolitan elite,
they will not need the present officers’ staff.

Thus the patriotic and state-oriented stance of the officers’ staff
is combined with their personal interests, and the latter is a very
powerful motive for orientation.

Sixth – the majority of business-elite. There is a wide spread
conviction among the "revolutionaries" that allegedly these people
are extremely inert, they are cowards, and lack any ideology. And the
most important thing is that deep in their hearts they allegedly hate
the government in power. But it is far not true.

Armenian oligarchs, with scanty exceptions, and in general the elite
support the idea of law and order, which, besides all, guarantees
their rule in the country.

Certain complaints about money and ownership, inter-clan clashes, etc.
don’t have any impact on the consensus. Let alone the fact that most
of them are very patriotic they have their convictions and they are
far not cowards.

Naturally we enumerated not all the groups of the
"anti-revolutionaries". As you see these people are from quite
different layers of society. Some of them have clear convictions and
system of values. And there are some, who have appeared in that camp
ex officio or they simply pursue commercial or personal interests,
having no convictions.

And together the "anti-revolutionaries" make up the majority of
society.