At the present, any evaluation of the activities of Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan is hurried. These days the perception based on emotions is not the only thing that complicates the issue. It is really hard to evaluate the work completed throughout the course of seven years. Those seven years are a bad period for the political and socio-economic conditions of the country. Of course, we can take the economy rates of 1999 and make an argument that Armenia has had many successes. Even the expression “Caucasian tiger” can be looked at seriously. Today, not many people remember what the economy of Armenia was like back in 1999. The activities of the government formed by then Prime Minister Armen Darbinyan after the 1998 presidential elections were ineffective after two months. The youngest government of Armenia was already in debates with parliament. The young governors were thinking more about their personal issues than the economy. After a year, they left the next government the legacy of a declining economy with all of its macroeconomic ratings. The government was not able to prevent the decline for yet another year.
The terrorist attacks on October 27 and the events that followed obviously had a serious influence on the economy of Armenia. The newly formed government of 2000 of Andranik Margaryan was faced with serious, principal issues. One of the most important issues was quite probably clarifying which course to take. Society had negative opinions about the idea of liberal economy that had sparked in the early ‘90s. The people had suffered from that. Parallel to the reforms in liberal economy, the socio-economic situation had deteriorated. The economic situation of Armenia was in a downfall and will be characteristic of the country’s economy for many years to come. The highly centralized economy left no chance for development. The majority of national property was centralized (and still is) and in the hands of nearly tens of families. They were going to exclude (and still do) any attempts for economic reform. With all that was going on, the people predicted that the new government wouldn’t survive.
During analyses, an essential argument was brought up: Andranik Margayan does not have the experience in being the primary figure and really, until that point, the prime minister did not have the reputation of a charismatic political activist. In addition to that, there was a tendency in the political field starting from 1995 that was apparently turning into custom. After the 1995 parliamentary elections, all the governments of Armenia were in heavy, tense relations with the National Assembly, including the governments headed by Hrant Bagratyan, Armen Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan and especially Armen Darbinyan. The latter, as a rule, was not able to “pass” any bill in parliament. It was in this field that Andranik Margaryan was successful and surprised experts. His work experience in parliament allowed him to break the custom. The parliament confirmed each of the government’s legislations. In 2003, many thought that things would be different after the elections, especially since the Republican Party led by the Prime Minister was not going to form a satisfactory majority in parliament. In one of the pre-electoral campaign interviews, A. Margaryan had announced that he sees Armenia’s future in the deepening of liberal reforms. He even dared to announce that he was grateful for the former prime ministers and especially appreciated the work done by Hrant Bagratyan. The announcement was made right when all political forces were speculating the people’s complaints about liberal reforms. The non-socialist, non-totalitarian “Country of Law” party and socialist ARF had actively taken part in the political field. No matter how incredible (and strange) it was, the prime minister managed to form a political alliance with those political parties and once again the government did not have any problems with parliament. Perhaps this does not positively characterize the National Assembly. In many analyses, it was stated that the National Assembly had turned from a separate body into the legislative body “carrying out” the legislative plans of government. But let’s not forget that at the time, leader of the “Country of Law” political party Arthur Baghdasaryan was chairman of the National Assembly and despite his position in the power pyramid and his share of responsibilities, he still made his populist speeches. The “Country of Law” party was making promises to implement improbable projects while being under the pressure of the pre-electoral campaign.
Let’s accept the fact that it requires special skills to work with such a parliament. In general, the government headed by Andranik Margaryan was successful in planning a bigger budget each year and actually implement the programs. Many experts consider this strange. This kind of governance is practically impossible in a country with a strictly centralized economy. It is clear that the prime minister was successful in doing many things due to his personal attributes.
Thus, after the upcoming elections, the new government is also going to choose between a liberal or centralized economy. That is when it will be clear if the new government can carry out its activities with the same patience.