TOO EARLY TO SPEAK ABOUT OVERCOMING THE CRISIS
LILIT POGHOSYAN
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 29, 2008
Armenia
We continue presenting to the reader political scientist ALEXANDER
ISKANDARYAN’S viewpoints on Armenia’s internal political `status-quo’
`If the pro-Ter-Petrosyan forces hold a `big demonstration’ on June 20,
the day of the opening of the PACE summer session, will this be another
argument testifying to the fact that the authorities have made a
progress towards the implementation of Resolution 1609?’
`Certainly it will. But it doesn’t mean that the restrictions are
hereafter ruled out or they didn’t exist in the past. It only means
that there is some progress, a positive development. This is just what
the Europeans want to see. They do not require us to ensure full
democracy in the country.
Everybody realizes that it wouldn’t be realistic at present. All they
need is to see Armenia make steps in that direction, and the
authorities do really try to do so. And the Europeans, as a rule,
appreciate `the kind intentions’ and welcome the people for making
efforts towards relaxing the post-electoral tension.’
`Is Armenia facing a political crisis as such?’
`I believe that the crisis has not been overcome yet. And the absence
of relations between the authorities and the opposition is one of the
components of such crisis. The opposition won’t recognize the
legitimacy of the authorities, and the authorities won’t recognize the
candidate who, according to official data, received votes from each 5th
citizen.
What is it if not a crisis? Besides, I see problems both inside the
pro-Government party and the opposition. It also testifies to the fact
that it’s still early to speak about the normalization of the
situation.’
`Why do you think the Masonic circles demonstrated such a strong
interest in our country? Perhaps we are really dealing with some
`well-organized force’ which is implementing scenarios of colored
revolutions with the help of its agents?’
`What is happening in Armenia is a phenomenon characteristic to this
particular country. Let’s assume, for a moment, that such Masons exist
and they are distributing money in bags for staging a colored
revolution or coup d’état in this or that country. Do you think they
will be able to repeat the scenario of the March 1 events in a country
like Switzerland?
There too, the people would go to the streets and again 10 people would
die as a result of clashes. I believe the answer is obvious. They
wouldn’t be able to do that.’
`Why should the Masons set such a task for achieving the same in
Switzerland. They might try to solve certain political issues by way of
overthrowing the present-day government, for instance?’
`Do you mean they will manage to do that if they want? I don’t think
so. The problem, in my opinion does not consist in Levon Ter-Petrosyan
or Arkadi Vardanyan. A large part of society is, for different reasons,
dissatisfied with the authorities. There was the social background, and
the outburst of the mass dissatisfaction resulted in the tragic events
of March 1.
And factors such as poverty, the social conditions, as well as the fact
that Armenia has still much to do for developing as a democratic
country, strengthening the statehood and accomplishing the political
system had their role in this process.’