Epress.am News from Armenia
Considering the oligarchic system in the country, no real change can come out of the elections in Armenia, believes Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (IDHR) Vice President Gor Hakobyan.
“Look at the programs proposed by elected political parties in 2007 and compare them with what we have today — just compare the numbers. Our organization considers studying these platforms and making proposals to be less effective, since elections here don’t lead to any changes. We consider more effective our contribution to developing civil society, informing people about their rights and teaching them the procedure of fighting for these rights,” he said.
Hakobyan recalled that in 2007, IDHR sent questions to all the political parties running in the election, asking how they envision solving several pertinent issues. They received responses from some parties but not from others. This year, however, the organization isn’t preparing to take such action.
“Political parties in Armenia are unable to formulate public interest, to put issues of public concern on the agenda. Until this happens, that which exists will be reproduced in the outcome of elections,” he said.
As an activist who is also involved in the Occupy Mashtots Park movement, Hakobyan said that the civic groups dealing with the issue in the park don’t have a united political orientation.
“In the movement there are many who adhere to a political party — by the way, there are people who have very different political orientations — but we are all united by the fight for public interest and the demand of adopting lawful decisions,” he said.