Head of the National Assembly Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Youth Issues Hranush Hakobyan considers herself as a “long-living and unique female non-partisan deputy”, however she is going to participate in the proportional electoral system in this year’s parliamentary elections. Her name is in the Republican Party list.
According to Hakobyan, Armenia’s parliament is becoming more and more politicized and deputies are working more as a team. That is why she doesn’t wish to get elected in the majority system, although she is certain that if she was nominated from Gavar once again, she would be elected in that system.
“It seems as though I have already proved five times that I can get nominated and elected. There is no longer the need to prove that. There are some people who express incomprehensive point of views, saying that Hranush Hakobyan gets elected because she is nominated from her birthplace. I would like to say that I am very happy for that because it turns out that I am the only deputy who actually has a birthplace. What, doesn’t anyone else have a birthplace in this republic?”
Hakobyan believes that the secret to her longevity in politics is her daily work.
“I never forget my voters; I solve all their problems and am grateful to them…Please, go to Martuni, Gavar, Sevan and ask them if they would like to see me as deputy or not,” says Hakobyan.
H. Hakobyan says that her collaboration with the Republican Party is conditioned by the politicized parliament model. “You have to support a team,” she says certainly.
With the hope that the “elections will be conducted fairer, more objectively, more organized and more transparently”, Hakobyan would like to see women represented at large during the elections. Hakobyan considers women’s participation in the elections as a main issue because women are underestimated not only in Armenia. Women’s participation in decision-making processes at the high level is important around the world.
“The social, economic, political and cultural developments of the given country are conditioned by how involved women are in the processes,” says Hranush Hakobyan and adds that she sees the problem of Armenia in customs and traditions. Society has a hard time looking at women as the ones in charge, deputies or government officials. In fact, women are more willing to cast their votes to the male deputy than the female. Hakobyan explains that approach by saying that the woman feels more secure when she trusts a strong man with given qualities.
“Women enter politics with their mental abilities and remorse, while men enter with mental abilities and will. Something good turns out from the combination of the two,” she says.
H. Hakboyan doesn’t accept women who appear in the political field during elections and remember that they are members of political parties and stay “underground” the rest of the time.
“My dear women, it’s not like that; you have to keep working and as a matter of fact, do heavy-duty work without waiting to get appreciation”.
She believes that it is “gossip and filthy talk” when women often complain that “the people don’t elect them and don’t pay attention to them”.
“Work and they will notice you,” says Hranush Hakobyan.
The problem with women is that they don’t visualize the structure or organization where they can be the leader.
“The woman, and in general man, must have space to acquire political maturity. People can not be in parliament by chance”.
She also places emphasis on the role of the family for the competence of women. “It is important to know how ready the family is for the wife, sister and daughter participate in the elections”. Presses also create a certain image and reputation for women and they often don’t miss out on the errors committed by women.
“Often the little, careless phrase may be fatal because there are stereotypes in society. The man in charge is always forgiven, but the small error made by women is not forgiven. Society reacts more sharply to women’s errors. Women have to be more careful and organized because their errors may hurt other women paving the path”.
Hranush Hakobyan plays a major role in women’s involvement; she took the initiative of tripling the 5% quota of women in the proportional lists and increased it up to 15%. According to Hakobyan, there is another affirmation that there has to be one out of 10 female deputies in the lists. If that was not taken into account, women would most definitely be last on the lists. Women have more advantages than men by law. According to Mrs. Hakobyan, their interests essentially differ. Men are interested in trade, business, national security and protection, while women are interested in social, sanitary, environmental and in general, peace issues.
“All levels of society must be represented in parliament so that the laws may be more moral, precise and acceptable,” says H. Hakobyan who mentions that women make up more than half of Armenian society and there can not be democracy without women’s participation. It is clear that nowadays, there is a more “positive attitude” towards women in parliament and women have begun to take police and army positions which were considered to be “manly” positions before that.
Hakobyan mentioned that the issues of daily life, having children and taking care of children keep women away from politics. “The woman is forced to lose at least ten years until raising the child. When she decides to come back to politics, it turns out that she has lost a lot of time and has to start from zero. The women must have less to worry about and her daily routine must be easier. She should spend minutes to prepare food and not prepare dinner for hours”.
Hranush Hakobyan would never like to see the man become a “housewife”, but she is certain that there are no fields especially for men or women. “Women must also participate in the defense of the country,” she says.