POOR, ILL PEOPLE

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14/09/2009

Interview with the art critic Grigor Khachatryan

In your opinion what is government and what are its mechanisms of
formation and its functions?

I have to repeat, but I will say that the word "government" arouses
the worst associations in me. I prefer seeing it in the form of a
fish rather than the way it is usually seen. And it comes out that
the more the number of the fish ishkhan declines the worse and more
insupportable the officials become. And it is determined by the fact
that usually they are eating this type of fish.

In reality, I do not imagine government but only service but there
should be a radical realization in this connection. This idea is not
rooted in the leaders and nor in the society. Today the question that
first a society should be formed which will bring positive changes
is much discussed; I think first they are to understand that the
government did not come to govern us but to serve.

And how can the society be brought to this perception?

With difficulty. Only those whom I love, respect may govern on me,
a boy, a girl or a friend of mine, an artist or a politician, or
anyone else of any profession whom I love. This government does not
exist for me.

However, even if you say they do not exist nevertheless today they
are engaged in our home and foreign policies.

In reality, our Constitution runs that government is formed through
elections. In other words, I elect whom I love, like, respect,
and give them functions to fulfill for me. But for example I elect a
rabbit and instead I am given a rotten rat moreover I am also ordered
to love and respect it because it is my government. But here this
fundamental principle is mutated through election. We do not have
any right to vote today, it is very false.

What kind of government would you like to have in Armenia?

You know this is a utopian question. I think in every country, they
want their governments to be better. But for now we would like to be
on the same level with those countries who have a better government
that our one. In the end, people always strive for perfection. I
would like to love my president, my ministers but I do not have to
force me to, but they have to be the way for me to love and respect
them but not through force. In other words, they want to force us
love and respect towards them which is impossible.

If the vote of the voters is not decisive, how can the society return
its right to form government?

There is constitutional and not-constitutional order. We have
repeatedly faced this problem. Public riot is justified when an
insuperable situation is formed in the country. Today we have the very
insuperable situation and the public may take up this variant. On
March 1, the government did so to make the people confront the
governmental forces now they say they did it because the state was
in danger. Nothing was in danger they just provoke people to do what
they did.

Do you agree with the opinion that each nation deserves the government
it has?

We would deserve them in case we loved and respected them. But since
we hate them we do not deserve them. The type of people depends on
their choice. We did not elect them we do not deserve them, or it
would be better to say they do not deserve us.

If people hate the government what keeps them?

The problem of love is the most important. Just when they do not manage
to be loved through natural way they try to achieve it by force, here
the post is a lever to have power and power brings money and forced
respect. They need all this to be loved. They are unsatisfied, poor
people full of complexes for which they take revenge from the public.

Interview by SIRANUYSH PAPYAN