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HOW OLIGARCHY WASTES ARMENIA
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/comments25555.html
Published: 11:31:53 - 23/03/2012
It is difficult to guess how much money the government will spend on
the parliamentary elections. I don't mean the budget money - everything
is clear with the costs of all the election campaign solutions, such
as the social benefits for public servants, subsidy of car fuel for
village people, the so-called tax amnesty etc.
I mean the costs which will not be reported anywhere. I mean
the election bribes both for the majority system and proportional
representation, the coalition candidates and lists of the RPA, BHP and
OYP. I mean the funding for the "appointed" candidates and forces,
when the ruling forces or government's nominees in precincts try to
tuck different candidates between them and the opposition in order
to deceive the society. I mean the practice of buying undesirable
candidates who will be sold out very easily in most cases. I mean
the costs of buying the commission members, as well as the observers.
In short, looking at all these costs, one understands that the
government will spend tens of millions of dollars and maybe even
hundreds of millions of dollars. The Armenian oligarchs, the oligarch
officials, the criminals and the local strongmen will empty their
pockets for the reproduction of the government, especially considering
the necessity to reproduce in silence.
The Nagorno Karabakh government, dwelling on the reconstruction of
the liberated territories, says it is unable to tackle this issue
alone since it needs a lot of money. It is difficult to say whether
the government of Karabakh will have its portion in the money to be
spent on the parliamentary election in Armenia and whether they have
political and business interests in the parliamentary election in
Armenia, but it is beyond doubt that the official-criminal-oligarchic
class of Armenia, instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars
on parliamentary mandates, could spend them on strategic goals,
developing the population of the liberated territories.
The official-criminal-oligarchic class of Armenia takes a lot of
social, energy and other loans on behalf of the state to spend their
millions which have been made by way of state levers, to become MPs,
to form a parliamentary majority instead of investing them in the
strategic development of the country.
It would be possible to implement big programs in Armenia on the
money spent on election bribes. It would be possible to develop one
of Armenia's towns into a university campus where the potential of
the Armenian youths would be generated. All kinds of programs could
be implemented but all of them have the same characteristic - they
don't enable the oligarchs to double and triple the spent money in
the next five years, while the reproduction of power does.
While investments in strategic programs may not ensure immediate
return they will get the positive reaction of the society and even
"remission of sins", in other words, public amnesty of the capital.
The society may forget all kind of questions on how those millions
appeared and how those people became rich. The society could see such
programs as a start from square one.
But the owners of these millions do not need this. All they need is
power and money here and always.
For this purpose, the official-criminal-oligarchic class of Armenia
will invest billions to get a parliamentary seat but will spend no
cent on strategic programs which may not ensure fast return of money
or return at all.
This is real investment and not the flowers given to women in Yerevan
streets, or all kind of other demonstrative charity when the charity
subject and object know where the charity comes from and where it
goes to, forming another link in the chain around the neck of the
Republic of Armenia.
HAKOB BADALYAN
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/comments25555.html
Published: 11:31:53 - 23/03/2012
It is difficult to guess how much money the government will spend on
the parliamentary elections. I don't mean the budget money - everything
is clear with the costs of all the election campaign solutions, such
as the social benefits for public servants, subsidy of car fuel for
village people, the so-called tax amnesty etc.
I mean the costs which will not be reported anywhere. I mean
the election bribes both for the majority system and proportional
representation, the coalition candidates and lists of the RPA, BHP and
OYP. I mean the funding for the "appointed" candidates and forces,
when the ruling forces or government's nominees in precincts try to
tuck different candidates between them and the opposition in order
to deceive the society. I mean the practice of buying undesirable
candidates who will be sold out very easily in most cases. I mean
the costs of buying the commission members, as well as the observers.
In short, looking at all these costs, one understands that the
government will spend tens of millions of dollars and maybe even
hundreds of millions of dollars. The Armenian oligarchs, the oligarch
officials, the criminals and the local strongmen will empty their
pockets for the reproduction of the government, especially considering
the necessity to reproduce in silence.
The Nagorno Karabakh government, dwelling on the reconstruction of
the liberated territories, says it is unable to tackle this issue
alone since it needs a lot of money. It is difficult to say whether
the government of Karabakh will have its portion in the money to be
spent on the parliamentary election in Armenia and whether they have
political and business interests in the parliamentary election in
Armenia, but it is beyond doubt that the official-criminal-oligarchic
class of Armenia, instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars
on parliamentary mandates, could spend them on strategic goals,
developing the population of the liberated territories.
The official-criminal-oligarchic class of Armenia takes a lot of
social, energy and other loans on behalf of the state to spend their
millions which have been made by way of state levers, to become MPs,
to form a parliamentary majority instead of investing them in the
strategic development of the country.
It would be possible to implement big programs in Armenia on the
money spent on election bribes. It would be possible to develop one
of Armenia's towns into a university campus where the potential of
the Armenian youths would be generated. All kinds of programs could
be implemented but all of them have the same characteristic - they
don't enable the oligarchs to double and triple the spent money in
the next five years, while the reproduction of power does.
While investments in strategic programs may not ensure immediate
return they will get the positive reaction of the society and even
"remission of sins", in other words, public amnesty of the capital.
The society may forget all kind of questions on how those millions
appeared and how those people became rich. The society could see such
programs as a start from square one.
But the owners of these millions do not need this. All they need is
power and money here and always.
For this purpose, the official-criminal-oligarchic class of Armenia
will invest billions to get a parliamentary seat but will spend no
cent on strategic programs which may not ensure fast return of money
or return at all.
This is real investment and not the flowers given to women in Yerevan
streets, or all kind of other demonstrative charity when the charity
subject and object know where the charity comes from and where it
goes to, forming another link in the chain around the neck of the
Republic of Armenia.