During a time when everyone in Armenia is getting ready for the upcoming parliamentary elections and with the current inter-political situation, it is hard, even impossible to decide who to vote for and for what. It seems as though everyone is talking about everything but not saying anything because you not only need a language to talk, but also a mind which, as Armenians say, is lacking.
But perhaps there is a mind; perhaps it’s not lacking. There is no other reason or occasion to use it and instead of inviting those people (political activists) to interviews, we label and offend them by calling them oligarchs, criminals, etc. We are a civilized society and must go along with the “innocence” hypothesis; not jump to conclusions and say this person didn’t pay taxes and got rich, this person acquired property and got a position by state means, or this person maneuvered his way around the other two to stay in the spotlight. No, it’s not like that. Perhaps these people are the ones that need to get the public vote and must solve the complicated issues at hand. At least that’s what I think; I have never plunged in the political field, not because I am not accustomed to that or because you have to have the money, but because I was taught at an early age not to get involved for no reason and not to respond if nobody asks for your opinion.
Now, perhaps these people were also taught at an early age not to respond and don’t talk about the future of the country, the people and the society because nobody is asking them. If somebody asked, they would talk; but they think that since nobody is asking, it means that nobody is interested and if they are not interested, let them live their lives and we will live…the way we live.
So, with all due respect to the people who are and always will be, I will try to compose a couple of questions that will give them the opportunity to show themselves. Although self-manifestation is not a constitutional right, however it’s important for the vital activity of society.
So, first question: Does each citizen of Armenia have the self-manifestation right and to what extent is it guaranteed? I am asking this question to those who are getting ready to compete. We could recall by taking a quick glance at the political party lists, the groups of citizens to be elected in the majority system and finally, the fixed prices of Armenia’s Public Television (financed on the account of taxpayers) and other broadcasting institutions. I say this last part so that the ones answering the question don’t get frustrated and say “if you’re such a good guy, why don’t you put up your candidacy?”
One time, I counted how many minutes it would take me to present the details of the downfall of Armenia if any television network out there gave me airtime. Twenty-thirty minutes would be enough to talk about what’s going on outside of Yerevan, including the regions of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh (then outside of Stepanakert) and the seized territories. For this (based on the fixed tariffs) I would need 1,600,000-2,400,000 drams, which ranges from 4380-6500 dollars.
My annual income, which is rather higher than the average income of Armenian citizens, is far from the mentioned figures. If I didn’t eat and drink and didn’t solve health problems and go on vacation for four years, which is foreseen in the Constitution, I would be able to pay that much. But can you imagine watching an unhealthy person appear on your television screen with a bad look, bony hands and face, voice barely heard and he appears in the eyes of the electoral mass for fifteen minutes and instead of saying “spare me some money for this poor candidate”, tries to draw his attention to the issues facing the country, the people and the society. Won’t the viewer say “if you’re that smart, take a look at yourself and the situation you are in”? Of course he will and that will be the right thing to do.
On the other hand, you have the person who doesn’t use the money provided by the state, the person who doesn’t save the taxes paid to the state and has 4380-6500 dollars, or has sold some of his property, or receives transfers from his relative from abroad, or does small business and barely manages to save money. In all cases he won’t pay that much money to the public and/or private television networks just to talk for 20-30 minutes because he has sold some of his property to buy something else (let’s say, he sold his car to buy furniture), because the donor relative won’t understand how he spends all his money and lastly (small business), he will be afraid of appearing in the middle and having the state taxing bodies find him once again.
After self-manifestation comes another important question. How can the rich businessman come up with laws benefiting those who don’t have the right to speak? Can he really let the people who don’t have the right to speak now speak out later? While he thinks (if he thinks) about the prosperity of the society and to have each citizen get the chance to speak based on the fixed tariffs, sooner or later those tariffs will double and multiply and the person with the extra 4380-6500 dollars will think to himself: is it worth paying that much money just to talk for 20-30 minutes, or is it better to go and spend the summer in Anatolia or Ajaria? Why Anatolia or Ajaria? After all, parallel to that, the prices for going on vacation in Tsakhkadzor, Dilijan or Sevan will increase even more than they already have.
I know that nobody is going to answer to these questions, but the questions remain-even if unanswered. Questions always remain the way they are, just like the Armenian people remain dependent on the state and the government.