If you have noticed, every time on the threshold of elections new “traitors of the nation” appear in Armenia. This time that role was given to Artur Baghdasaryan. The latter, when talking “privately” to a high-ranking British diplomat, was trying to convince him that the West should provide very harsh reports on the coming parliamentary elections in Armenia and press the RA authorities. The total impression is of course disgusting, however we shouldn’t forget that such a thing is not a novelty for Armenia.
Do you remember the elections of 1996? Do you remember the record of the “feast” held in Arshaluys village and its appearance in the media? Society focused mainly on the exotic part of the issue (Clinton’s mother), however the important point of those feats was somewhere else. If I am not mistaken, it was Vano Siradeghyan who said that they had only found out after the elections that the West had given 10-12 million USD to the Armenian opposition, so that the latter would create certain turbulence in the political field of Armenia. And do you remember the opposition at that time? It was ARF, NDU, Democratic Party, etc. Those were the parties, which were bringing the “tough guy” from abroad, in the result of which they reached their main goal, except for the ARF, and the international position of Armenia was debilitated. Now the NDU doesn’t participate in political processes, the Democratic Party is north-oriented and the ARF is the greatest supporter of stability.
But let’s go back to the “accidentally” recorded video of Baghdasaryan’s private talk with the British diplomat in Marco Polo restaurant, which has equally “accidentally” appeared in the media. The stand of the government in this regard is quite clear. What they are saying sounds approximately this way: “Yes, we have falsified the elections and we are going to continue doing that. But don’t bring anyone from abroad down on us. That is treachery. If you are strong, resist us on your own, and if you can’t then you deserve it. It’s not right to show our dirty white sheets to the world.” This standpoint, by the way, is not novelty either. The government has always been blackmailing the people by saying that if the opposition gets too active it will harm the national security of our country and especially deteriorate the resolution of Karabakh conflict. Let’s pay attention that this simple blackmailing technique always has a positive effect in terms of restraining the opposition.
Now let’s speak about Artur Baghdasaryan. There are two conceptual mistakes in this whole story. First of all, the West doesn’t care about democracy in Armenia. Very often they openly announce that they are less interested in strengthening democracy in Armenia than the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. It means that Baghdasaryan has applied to the wrong address. The second mistake is that Baghdasaryan himself doesn’t much care about democracy in Armenia. There is no need to remind from what institution the police attacked the people in 2004. Instead we’d like to remind that after the falsified Constitutional Referendum, Legal State didn’t complained much, and Heghine Bisharyan announced that she’s going to vote openly (she had nothing to hide). This time they are trying to enter the Parliament not with the approval of the authorities but thanks to pressure from the West.
Of course they are wrong, but we are also sure that there is nothing here about being “traitors of the nation”. There is no secret about this. Who doesn’t know that the government is falsifying elections? If you approach a kid above 12 on the street he can explain to you what party offers how much bribe and who collects the passports of parents. Thus Baghdasaryan may only be blamed for his wrong tactics. He claims that he is a democratic leader of the western type, however the west doesn’t care about it, and instead he appears in an uncomfortable state. Moreover, this whole story is not black OR against Legal State. It’s more like black PR against Armenia. And it is a serious thing.