BY Harout Ekmanian

"There are certain moments in life when, after sustaining the hardest blows that fate has in store for him, and when he realizes that things can’t get any worse, a man can summon up such strength from the depths of his being that he becomes invincible." – Raffi (1835-1888).

Yerkire yerkir chi and chi kareli are two of the most common phrases that would probably start stinging your ears after a couple of months of living in Yerevan. The first phrase means “this country is not a country” and the second one “it’s not possible.”

These phrases might even start visiting you in your nightmares as large choreographed spectacles in which the tens or hundreds of people you’ve met or talked with are involved, effacing their own identities to form an enormous representation of the standard and accepted “average Joe” in Yerevan. This spectacle echoes down to smaller instances – taxi drivers, customer service, public employees, beer buddies, the land itself chants these phrases. An Alien arriving in the country would conclude that its people have nothing left to lose.

 But isn’t “nothing” also subject to interpretation?

The parliamentary election campaign in Armenia started with a clear violation of laws by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) by hanging larger than life campaign posters in downtown Yerevan two days before the official start of the campaigning period. One would ask what is the meaning of not waiting two more days. Would it really convince more people to vote for them? We will come to that in the coming lines.

The RPA, keen on representing a refurbished image, featured young and more educated figures in the top ten of its candidates list and tried as much as possible to push notorious oligarchs to the back of the list without being able to do completely without them, as the latter have an essential power in reaping votes in their respective zones of influence across the country. Speaking of which, these very individuals and their primitive forms of rallying are proving counterproductive to the party’s intent on presenting a better image of itself. That also makes us question the real aim of the RPA.

The RPA campaign motto is “Security and Progress,” often printed with a large image of the president of the party and the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan greeting soldiers parading with arms and flags, as the bearer and custodian of the motto-formula. Be that as it may, Serzh Sargsyan has already lost at both pillars of the campaign motto.

In April 2016, for the first time since the independence of Armenia and the victory of Karabakh War, during his tenure, the Armenian side lost border territories to Azerbaijan. The president who appeared on press conferences to Armenian journalists barely twice before, has been in a extremely indefensible situation that he preferred to speak about the losses on the presidential plane with handpicked loyalist journalists with scripted questions, like Artak Aleksanyan of ArmNews TV (owned by Sargsyan’s son in law), and Gegham Manukyan of Yerkir Media TV (ARF Dashnaktsutyun),  a longtime government coalition partner of the Republican Party and largely discredited as a puppet opposition group.

President Sargsyan speaking to handpicked loyalist journalists aboard his plane on May 17, 2016.

Regarding progress, since Sargsyan assumed the presidency in spring 2008, GDP growth has fallen from +6.9% in 2008 to +3.0% in 2015, according to data from the National Statistical Service of Armenia. Prime Minister Karapetyan, in spite of not being on the Republican Party’s candidates’ list because of lack of eligibility (not meeting the legally required period of residency), is also featured widely on campaign posters representing a pillar of the “progress” promised by the RPA, thus, together with Sargsyan making up the Republican cannon.

The newbie Republican Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, mildly accepted by many in Armenia, is heading campaign rallies in towns and villages across the country, talking with people and listening to their questions and concerns, usually dressed in fashionable business casual attire, as opposed to other politicians in the post-soviet country. While his party comrades like Araqel Movsisyan (aka Shmays), trying to imitate a similar strategy, broke the internet (and the electoral code) in Armenia with the video of his “rally” in the village of Tsaghkalandj, telling the dissatisfied people “I’ll call that lad to fix this road for you” and “this is now my zone... The whole village should vote for me,” and in return getting their blessings. Another notorious oligarch is Mihran Poghosyan, tainted with Panama papers offshore bank account scandals in April 2016 when he was still Armenia’s Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer. In one of his rallies in Yerevan’s Qanaqer-Zeytun district, a traumatized mother of a fallen soldier was arranged to show up on the stage to thank and praise the former Major General of Justice Poghosyan. The event was largely criticized by critical media outlets as an ugly exploitation of war heroes, however, it led to a very little public debate. There have been also cases where a RPA village mayor, party members, sympathizers, and even high ranking police officers, were engaged in beating and firing on other political competitors. This cacophony of voices by the elite republicans rarely result in a solid public reaction, leading one to suspect that all of this were normalized long ago for the majority of the people.

But, in fact, almost all the people are pretending. The myths and promises by the Republican Party candidates and campaigners are not usually believed even by those enforcing their repetition, be they the prime minister, police heads, village mayors, local strongmen, or school directors.

The Republicans are investing so much money and effort in leading this campaign which, on the face of it, plainly doesn’t work if we assume that the people have nothing left to lose. However, their real aim is not to convince but undermine the public space. The fact that the Republicans are able to use the national broadcaster, universities, schools, kindergartens, and almost every state institution to trumpet their absurdities under the tunes of their infamous campaign song, and to force people to applaud them like infants, is itself a demonstration and establisher of power. It humiliates the people. It proves them dishonest whenever they speak. This corrupts not only the public realm, but the private too. It debases language itself. Parents would praise the president or the local oligarch in front of their kids so the children would repeat the right sentiments outdoors, thereby avoiding disastrous attention. 

For the majority of the people who adapted to this style, words and campaigns mean nothing much. No statement could be trusted. Freedom, democracy, transparency and accountability do not relate to their average lives. Just outside of the 2 KM diameter central Yerevan, in rural Armenia where votes, and fates, are bought and sold like a commodity, politics and policy remain the domain of the powerful and their henchmen. It’s a vicious cycle that guarantees the self-perpetuation of the Republican henchmen in power. It is in this environment that conspiracy theories flourished – some favoring the ruling Republican elite and some targeting it, but all adding to the collective impotence. A culture of hypocrisy and opportunism set in. The most cunning and sycophantic prospered in politics, business, academia, and almost every sphere. It seems that the people have nothing left to lose.

But in reality, there is still something important not to be lost, and hence that is the reason why the political elite in power are not sitting back passively.

In spite of everything, there are still some tiny shreds of foolish resistance, in the words of Raffi, that is left among the people and within the people.

We have seen the manifestations of it during protests in the past summers since 2012 and on. It’s not too big, but it’s too precious to lose. Too costly and painfully unrepairable. If that is broken too, the change that likely won’t be allowed to come through the ballots, won’t come from the streets either; never.

Top Photo: Protesters shout as they gather at Republic Square in Yerevan, Armenia, July 25, 2016 (Sasna Dzrer Incident) 

Harout Ekmanian writes for Hetq about human rights, politics, international affairs and other issues.