Congress Must Learn
Haik Aramyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/country23892.html
Published: 15:32:36 - 22/10/2011
On October 28 the Armenian National Congress will hold a rally. After
the previous rally and the seven-day action of protest, the government
did not meet any of the demands of the Congress, and there are no
signs that it will. Moreover, the government announced that they will
not beg to resume the dialogue, as the Congress had demanded, and
yesterday the police arrested Vardges Gaspari, a Congress activist.
The Congress has two arrested activists ahead of the rally. On the eve
and the day of the rally, the government will certainly close the
roads to traffic and press the opposition activists.
The government does not allow for anything but an indefinite action of
protest. On the other hand, the Congress seems to have used all the
other means in its arsenal to keep the struggle within the framework
of a national movement and prevent it from being perceived as a
partisan movement.
Here is a vicious circle which we witness for three years now. And we
need to escape it rapidly.
In this meaning, the idea of holding Civil Forums at the Freedom
Square has considerable potential which does not seem to be getting
enough attention. The 24-hour and other actions are not dangerous for
the government. At least, the government always has certain ways and
levers to oppose them. Besides, after every stage the Congress has to
explain why no results were achieved, and every time a wave of
disappointment overwhelms the masses.
If the Civil Forum is maintained in the format of its name, it has
immense potential to address the issues raised by the Congress and the
society. Different civil initiatives have already proved that clear
definition of problems and precise work in their direction leads to
results. In addition, civil initiatives have proved that it is
possible to achieve goals through minimum resource, without
`consolidation', `unity', `pan-national assemblies' which are old and
abstract notions.
The Congress and other political forces need not be upset that any
civil initiative achieves many more results than any partisan
movement. With their methods and definition of problems, these
initiatives are far ahead of the political forces.
Hence, it is time that the political forces learn from them and use
new technologies of struggle. Of course, if their goal is change in
the country.
From: Baghdasarian
Haik Aramyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/country23892.html
Published: 15:32:36 - 22/10/2011
On October 28 the Armenian National Congress will hold a rally. After
the previous rally and the seven-day action of protest, the government
did not meet any of the demands of the Congress, and there are no
signs that it will. Moreover, the government announced that they will
not beg to resume the dialogue, as the Congress had demanded, and
yesterday the police arrested Vardges Gaspari, a Congress activist.
The Congress has two arrested activists ahead of the rally. On the eve
and the day of the rally, the government will certainly close the
roads to traffic and press the opposition activists.
The government does not allow for anything but an indefinite action of
protest. On the other hand, the Congress seems to have used all the
other means in its arsenal to keep the struggle within the framework
of a national movement and prevent it from being perceived as a
partisan movement.
Here is a vicious circle which we witness for three years now. And we
need to escape it rapidly.
In this meaning, the idea of holding Civil Forums at the Freedom
Square has considerable potential which does not seem to be getting
enough attention. The 24-hour and other actions are not dangerous for
the government. At least, the government always has certain ways and
levers to oppose them. Besides, after every stage the Congress has to
explain why no results were achieved, and every time a wave of
disappointment overwhelms the masses.
If the Civil Forum is maintained in the format of its name, it has
immense potential to address the issues raised by the Congress and the
society. Different civil initiatives have already proved that clear
definition of problems and precise work in their direction leads to
results. In addition, civil initiatives have proved that it is
possible to achieve goals through minimum resource, without
`consolidation', `unity', `pan-national assemblies' which are old and
abstract notions.
The Congress and other political forces need not be upset that any
civil initiative achieves many more results than any partisan
movement. With their methods and definition of problems, these
initiatives are far ahead of the political forces.
Hence, it is time that the political forces learn from them and use
new technologies of struggle. Of course, if their goal is change in
the country.
From: Baghdasarian