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Armen Arakelyan

AndreasGhoukasyan’sSad Lessons

Presidential candidate AndreasGhoukasyan, who announced his hunger strike 26 days ago, said recently that his health condition was discussed more often than the political and civil demands underlying his hunger strike. But this is only natural. Any rational person should worry about the health of another personwho declared a hunger strike, despite thedemands made. That is a humanitarian issue. Secondly, a decline in health is the result of a hunger strike, and if the people and structures that are the target of the protest don’t care, then this extreme form of struggle is absolutely pointless.

Therefore, the main problem is not that the candidate's health is more important, but that his political demands are not important at all.  Hemade demands that cannot be met practically as legally they are aimed at the incumbent president and presidential candidate Serzh Sargsyan's right to run for reelection.

When his request was made of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) to annulthe registration of his candidacy, thereby forbidding Sargsyan to be reelected, there should have been some legal basis thatcould at least have turned the CEC’s decision into the subject of debate. Otherwise, anyone can requestthat another’s registration be withdrawn without grounds. There is no document that can prove the falsification of the coming elections by Serzh Sargsyan, despite the fact that all previous elections were falsified and the elected president's legitimacy was extremely vulnerable in terms of public perception and confidence.

It’s not the participation of any candidate that that makes the elections fictitious but rather the entire system and tools used to support the predetermination of the elections. It’s not accidental that no one announced a hunger strike before the 2008 elections, although it was obvious at the time that the ruling authorities would use harsher, brutal measures to falsify the elections for its own candidate.

Thus, it turns out that Ghoukasyanwent on his hunger strike not to prevent afarcical election but to protestthe absence of an alternative candidate. After all, if by some miracle Sargsyan's candidacy was withdrawn to comply with Ghoukasyan's demands,clearly the government would only nominate a new candidate with the same readiness to use all administrative, criminal and oligarchic resources. WouldGhoukasyanthen go on another hunger strike? Andhow can the government’s candidate be defined in general?That’s why Ghoukasyan's demands are not receiving public supportand being politicized.

In order for Ghoukasyan's demands to be the focus of attentionhe shouldn’t be alone in his tent camped in front of the National Academyof Sciences.There should not only be supporters who agree with the fairness and truthfulness of those demands, but also forces or citizens who are ready to fight for their implementation using the same method. Any demand becomes political at the moment when it turns public rather than personal. No matter how fair Ghoukasyan's protestmay be, his demands are perceived as being personal, because only he is fighting for them. Thus, the hunger strike won’tbecomea political movement, and the authorities won’t be forced or obligated to do anything.

But if this is reallya political action, it should at leasthave a logical goal or vision. When Levon Ter-Petrosyan appeared on the political field in 2008, he proposed a concrete program for implementing his plans. It was one of the reasons for his success in creating a social movementso quickly. Ghoukasyan can't do that, as his actions have no aim and there’s no platform. This is what prevents him from being a local Mahatma Gandhi despite the comparisons made.  

Ghoukasyan's protest makes us think differently. Maybe Ghoukasyan demonstrated immaturity and haste when forming his demands. But this hunger strike shows that there is no attempt change public opinion and politicize his actions. They are trying to make it obvious toGhoukasyan and society that there are no self-sacrificing citizens and political forces that would fight for the improvement of their lives and power. If they exist, Ghoukasyan would probably not be alone.And this is not only surprising, it’s also extremely sad.

Only five years ago people were willing to protest in tents for 10 days or more for an idea. Ten people were subsequently killed, and despite the circumstances, they were victims of a political and civil struggle. At that time the "let me be the only victim"ideology of Charents adopted by Ter-Petrosyanhad a magical influence. At that time the authorities probably understood that they could not continueto demonstrate apathy and cynicism towards the nation and citizens.   

Today it’s clear that self-sacrifice isn’tan effective way for struggle anymore. Isn't that the reason why the government’s candidate feels so unembarrassed when talking with citizens using inappropriate language?That’s the same candidate who was calling for solidarity in 2008.

It allows us to make two conclusions. First, the perception of a need to struggle for political rights is generally getting lost on public and political levels. Excluding Sargsyan, the candidates all believe that the elections will be falsified. But despite that they continue along, according to the rules of the game set by theauthorities. Self-isolation and refusing to take responsibilityare considered natural phenomena today as responses to proven realities. 

Secondly, political rights are not a motivation for political struggle. It is surprising that when Ghoukasyan was protesting the installation of kiosks in Mashtots Park there were many activists in his brigade. When environmental movements are formedfor Teghut, KhosrovReserve and other environmental issues, it is possible to forcethe government in changing decisions. But the struggle for vote protection, which is actually the basis for all other rights, is always failing in Armenia.

Comments (1)

Henri
Ինծի համաձայն այս ընտրութիւններուն կարեւորագոյն դաս տւողը երիտասարդ Ա`Ղուկասեանն է որ մի քանի բառերով խտացուցած է երկրին իսկական կացութեան պատկերը։Միւսները բարի կամքով լի խամաճիկներ կը թուն`Հայրիկեան - Մայրիկեան խաղցնելով ժամավաճառութեամբ զբաղած են ։

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