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ARMENIA: CAN A BUS BOYCOTT LEAD TO SHIFT IN THE POLITICAL DYNAMIC?
By admin
http://massispost.com/archives/9111
Updated: July 29, 2013
By Marianna Grigoryan
It was a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, back in 1955 that
catalyzed the civil rights movement in the United States. These days
in Armenia, some observers believe a recent bus boycott in Yerevan
may reinvigorate the country's democratization process.
The Yerevan public transport boycott started July 20, after the city
government decided to raise transportation fares in Armenia's capital
city by at least 50 percent - a move that many saw as benefiting
private companies with perceived ties to pro-government politicians.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly young people, took to the streets to
express their anger, boycotting public transportation and standing at
bus stops with posters that demanded the city government reinstate
the former 100-dram (about 25 cents) fare. To support the campaign,
some celebrities also started a carpooling campaign that offered free
rides to people all over the city.
The strategy worked. After five days, Yerevan Mayor Taron Margarian,
a leader of the governing Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), reversed
the price hike, while hinting that an increase was still possible in
the future.
"No doubt, this is a victory," stressed Stepan Safarian, a senior
member of the opposition Heritage Party. "Society made authorities
understand that [people] will no longer . . . put up with robbery
and the violation of its rights."
Sociologist Isabella Sarksian, a former prominent civil-rights
activist, added that the boycott may motivate young Armenians to get
more civically active. "Civil society is developing thanks to constant
large and small initiatives, through the media, Internet penetration,
and so on," Sarksian said. "The most important thing is that young
people have realized their power."
Boycotters celebrated their victory by drinking champagne and waving
Armenian flags in the streets. Yet, given the country's recent history
of mass protests leading nowhere, the question remains about whether
the boycott has permanently altered the political dynamic in Yerevan.
Past protests generated large crowds complaining about everything
from oligarchs' alleged immunity from prosecution for wrongdoing to
alleged rigging of national elections. But such mass actions didn't
push political leaders to make lasting policy changes. The most
recent example of this phenomenon was Raffi Hovhannisian's short-lived
"Barevolution" over the 2013 presidential election results.
Independent political analyst Yervand Bozoian believes the bus
boycott could be different. "Authorities were simply terrified by
this situation, and we can name this a triumph," Bozoian said. "The
movement put forward a very specific problem and solved it, which
means this can be continued in the future."
Although pushed off balance by the boycott, RPA leaders continue to
exude confidence in their authority. Some party leaders stressed that
they still control the country's political agenda. "If the government
wants, it can stop the movement in a night," declared the Republican
Party's fiery deputy chairperson, Galust Sahakian, at a July 25 news
conference. The government, however, "has no such wish," he added.
"I do not want these protest actions to fade away," Sahakian continued,
calling them, in a rare show of RPA support for demonstrations,
"very positive." He urged the public, though, "to show restraint and
not act as heroes."
Some observers expect the government to study the lessons of the
boycott and try to take action to prevent similar popular protests
in the future. But Tsovinar Nazarian, an activist with The Army in
Reality, a group that promotes awareness of alleged abuses in the
Armenian army, contends this boycott movement is more resistant to
government pressure than previous mass protests.
Nazarian suggested that the boycott had enjoyed more initial success
than earlier anti-government outburst, but stopped short of labeling it
a "victory." The boycott's most significant aspect is it showed that
Armenian young people could come up with creative ways to address
problems, she said. "Authorities, indeed, are trying and will try
to govern the movement through their people and methods, but they
will hardly succeed in this," Nazarian asserted. "Neither will they
manage to stop this wave of young people when they face new issues
and problems."
Not all analysts subscribed to the idea that the boycott marks
a civil-society turning point. One of the skeptics, independent
political analyst Armen Badalian, contended that the boycott was not
so much a spontaneous expression of public frustration, but more of an
orchestrated initiative designed to erode Mayor Margarian's political
standing. Magarian has been rumored to be a possible Republican Party
presidential candidate to succeed the incumbent, Serzh Sargsyan.
"It is impossible for people to go out into the streets spontaneously
and be organized like this, and have the right slogan," argued
Badalian. "This was mere PR that served its purpose - it harmed
Taron Margarian."
Safarian, the opposition Heritage party politician, sees hope for
lasting change in the country's political culture in the not-so-distant
future. "Even if we don't say that a civil society has been formed
in Armenia, we can definitely state that society has become smarter"
about how it goes about securing change, he said.
Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in Yerevan and editor
of MediaLab.am.
By admin
http://massispost.com/archives/9111
Updated: July 29, 2013
By Marianna Grigoryan
It was a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, back in 1955 that
catalyzed the civil rights movement in the United States. These days
in Armenia, some observers believe a recent bus boycott in Yerevan
may reinvigorate the country's democratization process.
The Yerevan public transport boycott started July 20, after the city
government decided to raise transportation fares in Armenia's capital
city by at least 50 percent - a move that many saw as benefiting
private companies with perceived ties to pro-government politicians.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly young people, took to the streets to
express their anger, boycotting public transportation and standing at
bus stops with posters that demanded the city government reinstate
the former 100-dram (about 25 cents) fare. To support the campaign,
some celebrities also started a carpooling campaign that offered free
rides to people all over the city.
The strategy worked. After five days, Yerevan Mayor Taron Margarian,
a leader of the governing Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), reversed
the price hike, while hinting that an increase was still possible in
the future.
"No doubt, this is a victory," stressed Stepan Safarian, a senior
member of the opposition Heritage Party. "Society made authorities
understand that [people] will no longer . . . put up with robbery
and the violation of its rights."
Sociologist Isabella Sarksian, a former prominent civil-rights
activist, added that the boycott may motivate young Armenians to get
more civically active. "Civil society is developing thanks to constant
large and small initiatives, through the media, Internet penetration,
and so on," Sarksian said. "The most important thing is that young
people have realized their power."
Boycotters celebrated their victory by drinking champagne and waving
Armenian flags in the streets. Yet, given the country's recent history
of mass protests leading nowhere, the question remains about whether
the boycott has permanently altered the political dynamic in Yerevan.
Past protests generated large crowds complaining about everything
from oligarchs' alleged immunity from prosecution for wrongdoing to
alleged rigging of national elections. But such mass actions didn't
push political leaders to make lasting policy changes. The most
recent example of this phenomenon was Raffi Hovhannisian's short-lived
"Barevolution" over the 2013 presidential election results.
Independent political analyst Yervand Bozoian believes the bus
boycott could be different. "Authorities were simply terrified by
this situation, and we can name this a triumph," Bozoian said. "The
movement put forward a very specific problem and solved it, which
means this can be continued in the future."
Although pushed off balance by the boycott, RPA leaders continue to
exude confidence in their authority. Some party leaders stressed that
they still control the country's political agenda. "If the government
wants, it can stop the movement in a night," declared the Republican
Party's fiery deputy chairperson, Galust Sahakian, at a July 25 news
conference. The government, however, "has no such wish," he added.
"I do not want these protest actions to fade away," Sahakian continued,
calling them, in a rare show of RPA support for demonstrations,
"very positive." He urged the public, though, "to show restraint and
not act as heroes."
Some observers expect the government to study the lessons of the
boycott and try to take action to prevent similar popular protests
in the future. But Tsovinar Nazarian, an activist with The Army in
Reality, a group that promotes awareness of alleged abuses in the
Armenian army, contends this boycott movement is more resistant to
government pressure than previous mass protests.
Nazarian suggested that the boycott had enjoyed more initial success
than earlier anti-government outburst, but stopped short of labeling it
a "victory." The boycott's most significant aspect is it showed that
Armenian young people could come up with creative ways to address
problems, she said. "Authorities, indeed, are trying and will try
to govern the movement through their people and methods, but they
will hardly succeed in this," Nazarian asserted. "Neither will they
manage to stop this wave of young people when they face new issues
and problems."
Not all analysts subscribed to the idea that the boycott marks
a civil-society turning point. One of the skeptics, independent
political analyst Armen Badalian, contended that the boycott was not
so much a spontaneous expression of public frustration, but more of an
orchestrated initiative designed to erode Mayor Margarian's political
standing. Magarian has been rumored to be a possible Republican Party
presidential candidate to succeed the incumbent, Serzh Sargsyan.
"It is impossible for people to go out into the streets spontaneously
and be organized like this, and have the right slogan," argued
Badalian. "This was mere PR that served its purpose - it harmed
Taron Margarian."
Safarian, the opposition Heritage party politician, sees hope for
lasting change in the country's political culture in the not-so-distant
future. "Even if we don't say that a civil society has been formed
in Armenia, we can definitely state that society has become smarter"
about how it goes about securing change, he said.
Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in Yerevan and editor
of MediaLab.am.