Tweet
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 7 2013
`A female politician shouldn't try to be like a male politician'
7 March 2013 - 9:11am
Interview by Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The tendency of woman's political role improvement is one the
hallmarks of our time. The chairwoman of the opposition party Gnchak,
MP from the Armenian National Congress Ludmila Sargsyan tells Vestnik
Kavkaza about the role of a woman in the Armenian political life and
the internal situation.
- The post-election processes in Armenia are accompanied by
protests initiated by the former foreign minister, the leader of
Heritage Raffi Ovannisyan. Can these protests turn into a wide
socio-political movement?
- Refusal from participating in the presidential elections by
three leading political forces has clear reasons. The forces - the
ANC, Prosperous Armenia, and Dashnaktsutyun - understood acuteness of
the geopolitical factor. The world political centers relied on Serge
Sargsyan, i.e. his reelecting was beneficial for Russia and the West.
The question is what direction Armenia will choose - the European
Union or the Eurasian Union. Both centers are interested players. The
other factor was the parliamentary elections on May 6th, 2012. They
demonstrated that the mechanism of power changing by direct elections
is ineffective in our country. In the context of doomed results of the
presidential elections, participation of the opposition forces was
senseless.
At the same time, the authorities had to provide competitiveness of
the elections. They could find a solution for the task, using
Ovannisyan. He would be right to reject participation in the
elections. In this case we would get what we have in reality in
Armenia - Serge Sargsyan was the only candidate and the elections
would be considered non-competitive and illegal.
Participation of Ovannisyan who is a political figure unlike other
candidates encouraged concentration of protest electorate's votes in
his favor. As there were no alternative opposition candidates, all
votes against Sargsyan were given to Ovannisyan, but it doesn't mean
all these people are his supporters.
There is nothing unusual in the protests: Sargsyan won the elections
de jure, while de facto he lost in many cities. His victory is
doubtful and people express indignation, expecting changes in the
situation. They hope for Ovannisyan. However, I see no grounds for
appearance of a wide socio-political movement because Ovannisyan's
position is unclear. He doesn't speak about certain steps for changing
power. So, the number of people on the Freedom Square will reduce day
after day.
- Are statements on necessity of new parliamentary elections
argumentative?
- Till power belongs to the Republican Party of Armenia, the
results of elections will be known ahead. Armenia needs new
presidential elections. Under the other president we can expect that
parliamentary elections will demonstrate people's will rather than a
next arrangement on the current authorities' reelecting.
- What is the main problem of the Armenian opposition?
- Consolidation. We cannot provide a serious struggle against
the authorities separately. We have ambitions and problems of
leadership. But the key success factor is consolidation of all
opposition forces.
- What skills compose a woman-politician's image?
- In the beginning of my political career I haven't thought
about this - I choose tasks and tried to solve them. Then I realized
that to be successful in politics (I think I am a successful
politician among women) you should be honest to your environment and
to people. This factor plays an important role in forming a really
positive image. A woman-politician should be persistent, logical,
adhering to principles, and what is the most important - never try to
be like a man-politician as in this case a woman-politician becomes
uninteresting. I am a leader of a party. I used to have many drawbacks
which I managed to overcome in time. Politics is a tough sphere, if
you want to see a friend in everyone, you will lose.
- In Armenia people continue to think politics is a man's
business. Who among your colleagues fill confident in this sphere?
- I don't agree that it is a man's business. Who said that
problems of our country are interesting to men only? Women feel
confident in politics as they are prominent political activists and
could achieve success by fair means.
- Do family and politics suit well?
- A woman-politician is not free from household issues. We
are mothers who are responsible to their children. Of course, politics
takes a lot of time and sometimes you don't fulfill your home
responsibilities well. But I began to deal with politics seriously
when my both daughters grew up. They are my supporters, aides, and
allies.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/37810.html
March 7 2013
`A female politician shouldn't try to be like a male politician'
7 March 2013 - 9:11am
Interview by Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The tendency of woman's political role improvement is one the
hallmarks of our time. The chairwoman of the opposition party Gnchak,
MP from the Armenian National Congress Ludmila Sargsyan tells Vestnik
Kavkaza about the role of a woman in the Armenian political life and
the internal situation.
- The post-election processes in Armenia are accompanied by
protests initiated by the former foreign minister, the leader of
Heritage Raffi Ovannisyan. Can these protests turn into a wide
socio-political movement?
- Refusal from participating in the presidential elections by
three leading political forces has clear reasons. The forces - the
ANC, Prosperous Armenia, and Dashnaktsutyun - understood acuteness of
the geopolitical factor. The world political centers relied on Serge
Sargsyan, i.e. his reelecting was beneficial for Russia and the West.
The question is what direction Armenia will choose - the European
Union or the Eurasian Union. Both centers are interested players. The
other factor was the parliamentary elections on May 6th, 2012. They
demonstrated that the mechanism of power changing by direct elections
is ineffective in our country. In the context of doomed results of the
presidential elections, participation of the opposition forces was
senseless.
At the same time, the authorities had to provide competitiveness of
the elections. They could find a solution for the task, using
Ovannisyan. He would be right to reject participation in the
elections. In this case we would get what we have in reality in
Armenia - Serge Sargsyan was the only candidate and the elections
would be considered non-competitive and illegal.
Participation of Ovannisyan who is a political figure unlike other
candidates encouraged concentration of protest electorate's votes in
his favor. As there were no alternative opposition candidates, all
votes against Sargsyan were given to Ovannisyan, but it doesn't mean
all these people are his supporters.
There is nothing unusual in the protests: Sargsyan won the elections
de jure, while de facto he lost in many cities. His victory is
doubtful and people express indignation, expecting changes in the
situation. They hope for Ovannisyan. However, I see no grounds for
appearance of a wide socio-political movement because Ovannisyan's
position is unclear. He doesn't speak about certain steps for changing
power. So, the number of people on the Freedom Square will reduce day
after day.
- Are statements on necessity of new parliamentary elections
argumentative?
- Till power belongs to the Republican Party of Armenia, the
results of elections will be known ahead. Armenia needs new
presidential elections. Under the other president we can expect that
parliamentary elections will demonstrate people's will rather than a
next arrangement on the current authorities' reelecting.
- What is the main problem of the Armenian opposition?
- Consolidation. We cannot provide a serious struggle against
the authorities separately. We have ambitions and problems of
leadership. But the key success factor is consolidation of all
opposition forces.
- What skills compose a woman-politician's image?
- In the beginning of my political career I haven't thought
about this - I choose tasks and tried to solve them. Then I realized
that to be successful in politics (I think I am a successful
politician among women) you should be honest to your environment and
to people. This factor plays an important role in forming a really
positive image. A woman-politician should be persistent, logical,
adhering to principles, and what is the most important - never try to
be like a man-politician as in this case a woman-politician becomes
uninteresting. I am a leader of a party. I used to have many drawbacks
which I managed to overcome in time. Politics is a tough sphere, if
you want to see a friend in everyone, you will lose.
- In Armenia people continue to think politics is a man's
business. Who among your colleagues fill confident in this sphere?
- I don't agree that it is a man's business. Who said that
problems of our country are interesting to men only? Women feel
confident in politics as they are prominent political activists and
could achieve success by fair means.
- Do family and politics suit well?
- A woman-politician is not free from household issues. We
are mothers who are responsible to their children. Of course, politics
takes a lot of time and sometimes you don't fulfill your home
responsibilities well. But I began to deal with politics seriously
when my both daughters grew up. They are my supporters, aides, and
allies.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/37810.html