TOTAL NON-CONFIDENCE
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 19:36:41 – 01/07/2011
Interview with Anush Sedrakyan, political analyst, deputy leader of
the Free Democrats Party
Anush, it is often noted that political parties are already past. What
is the purpose of creating a political party and what is your message?
It is absolutely true that the political parties are already past in
the world. However, in the political life of Armenia now is the time
of parties because we haven~Rt had a party with a political concept
and political action yet. In other words, we have had government
businesses which are called parties, we have had systems which protect
businesses, acting in the form of parties, and we have had also human
protest parties, in other words, a person is attracted by the vivid
opposition posture rather than the civil and political system of
the party. And we haven~Rt had a party with political action which
is not based on the leadership principle. For instance, the leader
of the Republican Party is not a vivid leader but he possesses all
the administrative leverages, which is already enough charisma. For
the ANC (the dialogue center), there we have indisputable leadership
charisma but it is not a guarantee of real political action of the
party. Meanwhile, the peculiarity of a party~Rs political action
is when you don~Rt love your leader, you don~Rt believe, you don~Rt
worship, you simply listen how ideological, pragmatic his speech is,
when you listen not only to your leader but also to the other members
of the party after which your long-term dialogue with people starts.
Anush, nevertheless, don~Rt you think that the institution of political
parties has been finally discredited, and is there anyone who still
believes in parties?
I don~Rt want anyone to believe in the Free Democrats because people
can believe in God, along with the party it is necessary to set up
relation based on civil confidence and its absence. Believing in a
party is childish. It is necessary to demand account from a party. A
party is accountable to not only its members but also to those people
with who it engages in political and civil relations. This is the
ABC of civil and political action.
The fact that our political institution is discredited, it is
discredited because of the system of expectations and passion which
we placed at the heart of a party, when a person seeks an apostolic,
missionary function in a dissident party. When a person understands
that he is a component of those parties and the inspector, we will
have a political action. For the time being, we see an authoritarian
party action everywhere.
Anush, will the main players of the political field allow the party
to advance? I mean the Armenian National Congress and the Republicans.
Yes, they are the main players, and in this balance they weaken
each other rather than strengthen, both sides let down each other~Rs
expectations. In other words, there is no carte blanche of confidence
between these two. The ANC expects the Republicans to speak more
transparently, the Republicans expect the ANC to be more discreet, the
ANC does not, and they weaken each other. But at the same time nobody
in this alliance is able to take deciding action against the other.
Therefore, when I am asked before every rally what expectations I have
from the rally, I rule out deciding action in this political mosaic
(I am not saying this is a negative or immoral mosaic) not because one
is a traitor, the other is queer, simply when you are in the rules of
such a game, deciding action is ruled out, isn~Rt it? Deciding actions
imply ideological controversies. When you are engaged in a dialogue,
it means you don~Rt have ideological controversies.
However, it is often said that the country is in such a social and
economic crisis that one tremor will send the country into destruction,
and this dialogue is aimed to save us from tremors.
So, it turns out that they launch the dialogue to save the country
from destruction. I have heard this phrase since independence but
the country is not moving toward destruction, the country is moving
toward provincialism, poverty, immigration. These may eventually be
the parameters of destruction of the country but they are not caused
by revolutionary or external factors, they are caused by minor and
major games in which one thing is obvious. In Armenia, no political
party has established the priority of state interests, it is based on
personal interests. In addition, the personal interests are expressed
through personal revenge, compensation for stories of the past. It
is necessary to reckon the state interest and the mechanism of its
protection coolly, pragmatically. Presently, we are busy formulating
the components of the primary state interest.
Anush, you have stated for a number of times that you would like to
see figures in our political field who take pragmatic action. Are
the Free Democrats figures seeking for pragmatic action?
The word figure sounds too high-flown; I would rather call them
employees of the political, civil sphere who must have sufficient
professionalism. I hope that it will not be one figure, there will be
a group of people who will be able to introduce pragmatic mechanisms
to the public without rallies and emotions because our political
history is a series of emotions, hatreds, reprimands.
I don~Rt mean this political figure is an extorter or fraud. I am
asking another question. Who is the owner of Armenian mines, how are
they exploited, which are the mechanisms of their exploitation? Which
part of the ore goes to the person and which part goes to the state
budget? Or public health. Why is it targeted at having possibly
more patients? Meanwhile, the public health policy must be aimed at
having healthy people rather than treat ill people. An opposition
force must first deal with a citizen~Rs health, then social and other
issues. Were all these issues raised consistently by other political
forces, I would join it. We saw that nobody did, and we had to initiate
our own political action, the civil way of doing politics.
Do you mean you are now in the phase of drafting your policies?
These are everyday questions which asked in all the families. The
problem of a political force is not to say that everyone is a thief
but it is not. A political force must introduce its price, economic,
liberalization, educational, military policies. If our policies are
not brought into being, people can express non- confidence in us.
Anush, in your party there are people have a political past. Will it
hinder them to act in the political field and inspire confidence?
I can ask if the past does not hinder Levon Ter-Petrosyan or Gagik
Jhangiryan to act now? In Armenia doing politics requires nerve and
passion. People in Armenia do not trust the government and they are
right, but people do not trust the opposition either otherwise there
wouldn~Rt be growing migration, people would think elections are close.
There is a total non-confidence.
Anush, you said in our previous interview that Levon Ter-Petrosyan has
the charisma unlike any other political figure. Do you still think so?
Yes, at the moment he is the figure with the greatest charisma,
intellect which, however, doesn~Rt work now. This political figure is
wasting his charisma to have an army of devotees but is in an alarming
deadlock situation, meanwhile the political charisma must facilitate
the implementation of the political agenda of the country. Has the
ratio of immigration changed? Have the problems of monopolies been
solved? Of course, not! These are the issues which the opposition
must struggle and report positive changes. And snap elections are
not an achievement to me. Who will guarantee that these parameters
will change after the elections?
SIRANUISH PAPYAN