Epress.am News from Armenia
The opposition rallies led by Levon Ter-Petrossian have lost their contemporaneity and acuteness — participating in them has become meaningless, said Dean of the Department of Journalism at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University Roman Nadiryan in response to a question by Epress.am as to whether it’s worth it to participate in the Armenian National Congress rally today.
“The past few years demonstrated to many, myself included, that this method of struggle, or participation in political life, or preserving a certain protesting, spirit of opposition in a certain segment of our society is not that all that effective or productive.
“The passiveness or activeness of my civic position does not stem from whether I participate in Armenian National Congress (HAK, or other) rallies or not. The opposition must be conscious, and it does not imply an automatic membership to any group, tendency, political parties or congresses. Opposition occurs at the individual level. Do not try to turn opposition into a monopoly.
“If people ignore HAK rallies, that doesn’t mean they haven’t made up their minds. This is the biggest misconception of some. As I said before, opposition should be at the personal level, opposition to something in the first place. The essence of the rally is the common denominator while the numerator is much more important. It is only natural that people accept neither HAK nor those methods which they’re led by, neither its activities nor its leaders. I don’t understand what unites the people standing on the stage (at HAK rallies). Who are HAK leaders specifically addressing?
“I don’t have a negative attitude toward the Armenian National Congress (considering the fact that there are people who participate in its activities who are worthy of respect) — it’s a potential counterweight. The presence of such poles that stimulate the country’s development at least in part by supporting the political and civic participation of society is necessary.
“I am far from society to encourage social revolt, but, as I said in the beginning, I’m not satisfied and not interested in those methods adopted by HAK. Perhaps it is necessary for HAK to change its strategy. Armenian citizens have the inalienable right to protest and assembly, and we must always remember that. But essentially these rallies have lost their meaning, at least for me,” Nadiryan said.