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  • Vardan Oskanian. We Have A Single-Party System

    VARDAN OSKANIAN. WE HAVE A SINGLE-PARTY SYSTEM

    Noyan Tapan
    18.02.2011

    CIVILITAS - The Civilitas Foundation has recently published the
    third of its annual reports on Armenia and the region. Let's use
    this as an opportunity to look back at the Foundation's work. What
    are your thoughts?

    V.OSKANIAN - Over nearly three years, the assessment of Civilitas's
    many programs must be heard from the public. The response that we
    periodically receive assures us that in this short time period,
    the results are visible and tangible. All our programs aimed at
    strengthening civil society. Our public forums as well as the many
    programs having to do with libraries, educational scholarships, NGOs,
    and other institutions and movements with the potential of forging a
    coalesced civil society, have, together had important outcomes. These
    programs have enabled the more active inclusion of various segments
    of society. Many, even those politically passive, have begun to see
    value in gathering around causes, expressing opinion and participation.

    Our other programs, too, including those aimed at rural development,
    pursue the same objective. We're in the regions with small economic
    development projects on the micro-financing model - helping individual
    families with the necessary resources to become self-reliant, which
    in turn leads to augmenting the capabilities of the village as a whole.

    Finally, this means the villager will at least feel in charge of his
    own life.

    CIVILITAS - Would you say there have been obstacles to our work?

    V.OSKANIAN - I would say it doesn't matter. We have overcome whatever
    obstacles there have been and moved forward. There's always a need
    for more resources, but I believe the greatest remaining obstacles
    are ideological. Tolerance for dissent is non-existent among the
    leadership and that breeds more intolerance among the population. The
    'with us or against us' attitude among many in leadership positions
    is unhealthy. Instead of fostering intelligent, informed debate,
    such limitations force all sorts of comments and criticisms to the
    lowest level.

    That is why I think our public forums are important. Both live,
    in person, and on the web, we are saying that not only is it OK to
    speak up, but it is our obligation as citizens, to speak up. Perhaps
    we are succeeding in making that point. A recent forum had four
    parliamentarians, each a member of a different political party together
    on our stage. Prior to that, in a very heated forum on the situation
    in the army, we had representatives of the defense establishment,
    together with very vocal and active human rights activists. In other
    words, we are making headway and moving in the right direction.

    This will be a particularly productive year. If these three years
    were our period of growth and getting established, now, we can expand
    programs and work more visibly. We have great friends, in Armenia,
    in the Diaspora, among the international community. There are also
    individuals who want to feel they are part of a process that helps
    the country move forward.

    CIVILITAS - Could you talk a bit about the Annual Report process? Who
    contributes to it? What does Civilitas intend to say with this report?

    V.OSKANIAN - The report is a tool which forces us to do what we in
    Armenia don't do at all. That is, to objectively assess ourselves -
    our actions, our intents, our successes, our failures - in order to
    re-group, re-define a direction if necessary and move on. At the
    beginning it seemed it was because Armenia was new and we didn't
    know how to or didn't have time to sit back and analyze our goals
    and our actions. Now, I think Armenia doesn't want to assess. We
    listen as others critique, based on their own agendas or standards,
    and we move on regardless.

    The Civilitas annual report itself, as well as the process of
    generating the report, is the compilation of a series of opinions and
    arguments. The opinions are generated both within Civilitas as well
    as with outside experts. The compilation is the product of extensive
    discussion and debate and I believe that this all-inclusive process
    is what makes the report valuable.

    CIVILITAS - How do you assess, how does anyone assess?

    V.OSKANIAN - There's a clear standard to assess by results. Civilitas
    assesses by results. I don't know how else to do so and do so
    objectively. Judging by results, the situation is bad.

    The economy, domestic policies, foreign policy, it's difficult and
    uncertain. The economy is the most palpably felt because it affects
    us all daily, whether secure or insecure, we all see it. And the
    statistics support what we sense. Poverty is up, unemployment is up,
    the national debt has tripled. The budget deficit has tripled. The
    standard of living has gone down. The 15 percent drop in GDP of 2009
    was a great blow to the economy and one from which we don't seem
    to know how to recover. In the best case scenario, if we double the
    2.4 percent growth we saw in 2010, and we double it this year, then
    double it again next year, by the presidential elections of 2013,
    real GDP will be lower than it was in 2008. This would be a serious
    cause for concern, even if there were a plan for how to improve on
    this. But there isn't a plan.

    And it's the same with domestic politics. Freedoms are even more
    curtailed. Public assembly is hampered. I know that first-hand sitting
    here in the Civilitas office. Every kind of loud, musical event is
    given permission to take over the space around the opera, just so
    there are no public meetings held there. Television is controlled.

    People remain incarcerated for political reasons. The uncertainty
    surrounding Karabakh is palpable, there's no negotiating document on
    which the sides are willing to work together. I have real concern that
    the right of people of NK to self-determination, which was codified
    in the negotiating document as a result of a long and hard effort,
    may just be allowed to slip away. With Turkey, the negotiating process
    has never, in 20 years of independence, been so tense or at such a
    deadlock. This is the outcome of miscalculated policies. All this
    together is frustrating both for Armenians and for the international
    community. But worse, this uncertainty presents a serious threat to
    our national security. The authorities on the other hand, in order not
    to look weak, speak and act as if all is well, which only increases
    our hopelessness and works against both the nation and the state.

    CIVILITAS - Anyone who hears this is going to ask the obvious same
    question now what? What can be done? Where to start?

    V.OSKANIAN - We know that just as the problems are many, so the causes
    are many. During these 20 years of independence, the problems have
    remained the same. They are obvious, solvable, and only by solving
    them can the country move forward. They are not solved only because
    of the absence of political will and the readiness to place personal
    interests above those of the country.

    But if I were to point to one problem, the first problem, I'd say
    it's the political monopoly. It's not the economic monopolies, it's
    not corruption. These are consequences of the political monopoly. At
    the same time, ironically, they help sustain the political monopoly.

    Despite the fact that there are five parties in parliament, we have a
    single-party system, accountable to its own power clique only. Only
    when we dissolve this centralized power system, this political
    monopoly, only then the other issues can be tackled. Only with open
    political competition can there be free economic competition. Within
    the executive and legislative branches of government, competition
    must develop between distinct yet influential forces. The economic
    monopolies and corruption can be reined in, done away with, people can
    be held accountable, economic activity can be brought into the public
    sphere, because they won't be accountable just to a political monopoly
    who will determine the rules of the game, but rather to the public,
    so that the public will support a multi-polar competitive political
    system. Only then will one pole actually, truly monitor of balance
    out the other pole. And only then will it be possible to struggle
    against corruption, economic mon opolies and other problems. That in
    turn means a stronger state, and more efficient use of our limited
    resources. According to international financial institutions, a country
    like Armenia should have a tax collection rate of around 22 percent,
    we're actually collecting only 17 percent of GDP. The five percent
    difference means 193 billion Dram less in taxes, less in the state
    budget then we could have had. Our entire defense budget is less than
    that amount. That's exactly the amount we spend on social security -
    imagine being able to double that.

    All this can be corrected if we stop pretending to be a democracy,
    and instead, actually embrace the values that make up democracy.

    Pretending to be a democracy is worse, because then people will cling
    to empty hopes. Democracy is not just about good elections. That's
    important, but not sufficient. Democracy means embracing the best of
    values tolerance, liberalism, and most important rule of law.

    So long as we continue to head in the opposite direction-toward
    centralization of power, towards rule of individuals, rather than
    rule of law.

    This year, this 20th year of independence, we are all obligated to do
    a year-long self-assessment. To see what there is to learn from our
    own mistakes, to learn from our neighbors all of them, big and small,
    emerging or developed.

    The Civilitas Foundation




    From: A. Papazian
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