Politics

During this time thirteen years ago, Armenians were electing a president for the first time. Although there were many candidates, it was clear from the start that the people were going to vote for one of them. That person was the candidate proposed by the Armenian National Movement Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The candidate proposed by the movement obviously had no election campaign. Armenia’s Communist Party, who was against the movement, did not have a candidate. The other candidates, despite their active election campaigns, did not have anything to say in particular. The people were electing a president for the first time. This had never happened in Armenia. Society had only heard about or seen elections by watching television. People had heard some news about the U.S. presidential campaigns. Many people who had seen those campaigns had complained about why their elected candidate does not communicate with the people, why he doesn’t make speeches, why he doesn’t make promises, why he doesn’t have a slogan, etc.

During his meetings with the people, which were very rare, Ter-Petrosyan used the Armenian National Movement’s “Fight, Fight until the end” slogan. In his opinion, that slogan said all that needed to be said. A fight had begun in 1988 and that fight needed to be carried out to the end. The voter would listen to this slogan and, by instinct he would raise his arm high. But the voter did not accept that as a slogan because the campaign slogan that he knew needed to be some kind of promise-a promise for life, prosperity and success. It had been only 20-25 days since Armenia declared its independence and it still hadn’t been recognized by the rest of the world. The Soviet Union had disappeared, but it still had not collapsed. In this situation, the most rational slogan that the movement’s suggested candidate could bring up was the one by the Armenian National Movement. The only thing that could be talked about during a time when everything was indecisive, when there was a war going on, when there was a blockade and when one part of the country had been hurt by the earthquake was demagogy. If I am not mistaken, on October 16, 1991, Levon Ter-Petrosyan was elected president by 86% of the votes. The people trusted one man who had to rule the country in the most difficult five years for Armenia. After getting elected, there were many occasions when the president made direct speeches and claimed that he would not make any promises. During the five years of Ter-Petrosyan’s presidency, success and misery went hand in hand. Success was in general and it was not perceived by the people, however, misery was more of a personal misfortune. Personal misfortunes such as loss of property, unemployment, the cold weather, starvation and other privations were closely connected with the authorities. The person guilty for the personal misfortunes was blaming himself for the 1988 Armenian National Movement and for electing a president with the slogan “Fight, fight until the end” in 1991. The opposition kept on adding salt to the wound of the people and never gave a reason for how the misfortunes happened or where they came from. The opposition never compared the misfortunes with the successes. Under these conditions, it seemed impossible for the first president of the Republic of Armenia to be re-elected or occupy the office for the second term. What was the candidate suggested by the movement going to say to the public? The slogan “Fight, fight until the end” was not going to work any more and the president was not used to making promises that he could not keep. All the unrealistic promises, starting from the economy, the salaries, the tripling pensions up to the saving deposits, had been made by the opposition for several years and still continue to be made. Every time the opposition makes a promise, there are always believers. The slogan chosen by Ter-Petrosyan for the 1996 election campaign was, I think, not like any other. There have been other elections after 1996 in Armenia, thousands of slogans have been put up everywhere and broadcasted on television, however, but none of those slogans have expressed anything besides a simple promise.

“Victory, stability, progress.” This was Ter-Petrosyan’s slogan for the 1996 election campaign. The words are set in the order of progression. This was one of the few slogans that I had heard where the slogan itself consists of two speeches, one promise and a warning that the slogan prior to this one had expired. Basically, the slogan “Fight, fight until the end” was no longer in need. That fight has led us to victory and stability. Now it is time for progress. However, victory and stability are high values. Nobody thought about what would happen if we lost the Karabagh war, nobody thought about what would happen if our country were to become unstable and pulled into civil conflicts, just like the neighboring countries. The people loved Ter-Petrosyan, but they did not like his principles. The people were demanding the president to sacrifice some things for causing them pain and suffering, but the president just “didn’t get the picture”. Let’s imagine the year 1996, when Ter-Petrosyan removed the Prime Minister from office and turned him into a scapegoat, or take Vano Siradeghyan who, despite his work done towards stabilizing the country and keeping it that way, was not perceived by the people. Can you imagine what would happen in September, what chaos would arouse within the framework of the opposition, and how many votes would go to Ter-Petrosyan? Can you imagine what would happen if the president removed the Prime Minister from office? I can’t even imagine that. To be honest, I don’t imagine the other two either because the first president of the Republic of Armenia did not like to play with the people’s emotions. That is why the people did not forgive him. “Victory, stability, progress.” This was a serious slogan for the newly emerging country. All one needed to do was to come to senses and think that if everything did not go the way as planned, then the progress would be interrupted and the others would come. And they did.