FROM RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY INTO A PUBLIC STATE

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13:11:47 – 03/03/2010

Vahram Soghomonyan, political scientist, specialization – regional
policy of European integration in the Southern Caucasus

What do you think about the current situation in Armenia?

I would like to stress the changes we need. In my opinion Armenia can
change only through a change of its values, otherwise any government
will bring disappointment. Here are the most important values needed
to be reviewed.

The most essential problem is the lack of equality of rights. On all
the levels (family, church, politics, university and personal thinking)
authoritarian relations exist. Such kind of phenomena and dependences
are to be refused.

The change of the role of the Armenian woman is very important too.

They are rendered goddesses but at the same time they become the
victims of the society’s old thinking. All this leaves its impact on
the perception of democracy too.

The third is the freedom of a person. The state is not to be based
on the family but on a person first of all. The forth is the social
justice and in general the perception of justice. Any demand of
justice or social right is ignored at any step. In reality, we hunger
for social-democracy.

And in the end, a culture of public protest is to be formed and the
political involvement of people is to be enhanced. Hidden criticism
does not mean a thing. The discussion of a democratic country is public
with which it differs from discussions in Eastern markets. Only public
forces and movements can achieve these changes.

As a result, we do not have to have two realities – one for us, the
other for the rest of the world. We have to globalize our values but
not to be closed in ourselves. We need to turn into a public nation
from a religious one.

Are public initiatives and discussions able to reach this objective?

I think the foremost in them is the formation of a discourse. People
can discuss with different stresses, but in the end, they can agree
on some values. Civil society is formed this way. The citizens
need to clarify jointly whether tax-evasion, law-breaches are to be
criticized, or whether demands from governmental bodies, or punishing
the perpetrator is to be criticized.

Here it is important to overcome the split. For example, many predict
human values, but in private conversations they say that in Armenia
their implementation is impossible. The elite do not believe what
it says. The society, which does not have a consensus over values,
does not have a direction of development either.

What position does the society need to have? The active part of it
is divided into socialists and democrats. From which part are you?

I would say- conservatives and liberals. The point that there are many
conservatives with their stereotypes is understandable, but there is
a huge mass of people considering themselves liberals who want to
leave everything take its course. This means that they do not have
any position in social issues. Left ideas are not to be underestimated.

They are the bases of the establishment of the right.

Our attempts to change the society are similar to tries of a
"chicken" to fly because democracy is declared but way of action
is authoritarian. Manvel Sargsyan is right when saying that people
refused to defend rights declared by themselves in ’90 leaving them
to a group of people.

Interview by SIRANUYSH PAPYAN

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress