Comments on: Is civil society taking shape in Armenia?

By: Երիտասարդական քաղաքացիական շարժումների ծագումնաբանությունը ըստ բլոգերի « Հայկական լրատվական բլոգ

Fri, 02 May 2008 07:53:05 +0000

[...] քաղաքացիական հասարակություն է ձեւավորվում, պնդում է «ԱՅՕ`ԱՅԴՊԵՍ ԸՍԻ» բլոգը, նշելով, որ «Լեւոն Տեր-Պետրոսյանի չարաբաստիկ [...]

By: Armenia & the South Caucasus | The Caucasian Knot » Blog Archive » Armenia: Is Civil Society Taking Shape?

Thu, 01 May 2008 07:58:38 +0000

[...] ԱՅՕ՝ ԱՅԴՊԵՍ ԸՍԻ wonders whether the recent presidential election in Armenia hasn’t kick-started the development of a more effective civil society in the country. In particular it says that the amount of online activism that has emerged through blogs is unprecedented and says that it hopes a real pro-democracy movement will emerge by the time of the next parliamentary election in Armenia. Armenian society (or some segment of it at least) is becoming more active and less apathetic to the situation in the country, which can be summarized simply as one where the people are disrespected and ignored on a daily basis by their leaders. This leads me to speculate as to whether all of former president Levon Ter-Petrosian’s malicious statements and actions as well as the March 1 events, might have inadvertently sowed the seeds for a bona fide civil society to grow in the country. [...]

By: Onnik Krikorian

Onnik Krikorian — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:49:12 +0000

The Sksela-Hima movement also first visibly emerged in April 2003

Sorry, I meant April 2004.

By: Onnik Krikorian

Onnik Krikorian — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:48:16 +0000

Civil society is always active around the time of elections and in the immediate aftermath of such votes. The same was true in 2003, for example, and continued until April 2004 with street protests and a few clashes (5 April as well as 12/13 April). However, it’s true that this time round, the leadership is different. In 2003-4, Demirchian, Geghamian and Sargsyan were not the same as Ter-Petrossian, Sargsyan and Pashinian. This has led to a more spirited opposition although in my opinion, the numbers are roughly the same in terms of street protests. Moreover, unlike 2003-4, there were no deaths which forced the international community to keep a closer eye on the country. The Sksela-Hima movement also first visibly emerged in April 2003 and while their number is not large it is larger and was also active for the 2007 parliamentary election.

As for the ARF-D, while it can be understood why they might consider to be part of the coalition, I think it’s correct to say that it was both a disappointment and a mistake. Instead, it should have probably become a constructive opposition inside parliament and outside of government. Some people I know how voted for ARF-D feel the same although that does not mean they no longer support the party. Unless things noticeably change, however, I think it is not unfair to expect the ARF-D to reconsider their position once the initial aftershock of the presidential election dissipates.