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DON'T EXULT FROM ARMENIAN OPPOSITION FORCES UNITING, CAUTIONS ANALYST
http://www.epress.am/en/2014/01/14/dont-exult-from-armenian-opposition-forces-uniting-cautions-analyst.html
01.14.2014 14:06 epress.am
What's important at the Jan. 18 rally against the proposed pension
reforms is the participation of the citizens who initiated it and
their adhering to their principles, and not the participation of
the four political parties (Armenian National Congress, Prosperous
Armenia, Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Heritage Party)
that have joined the demonstration, said Ruben Mehrabyan, an analyst
with the Armenian Center for Political and International Studies, at
a press conference today, adding that past experience shows that when
citizens are not at the center of political processes such processes
turn into political games.
Mehrabyan admitted that it's good that parliamentary factions that are
not members of the ruling coalition are united and will participate
in the demonstration, but he advises not to forget that those parties
are quite spotty and some of them made compromises that were not in
the public interest with the ruling authorities in the past.
"We shouldn't exult from that unity," he cautioned, remarking that
some people consider positive that former president of Armenia Robert
Kocharian also spoke out against the pension reforms.
Note, the group initiating the struggle against pension reforms places
importance on the four parliamentary parties' participation in the
march also because those parties have appealed to the Constitutional
Court and have to keep an eye on the issue.
Accordiing to Mehrabyan, it's important that citizens who are
actively fighting, who are intelligent and the future of Armenia,
realize that this is not only an economic, but also a political
matter. "It's important that we turn the sectoral struggle into a
systematic struggle. We have examples of when there were sectoral
[fragmentary] successes; for example, the 100 dram [transportation
fare] campaign, which was magnificent. But now it's not ruled out
that city hall will again make such illegal decisions. The struggle
didn't lead to a change in policy," he said.
http://www.epress.am/en/2014/01/14/dont-exult-from-armenian-opposition-forces-uniting-cautions-analyst.html
01.14.2014 14:06 epress.am
What's important at the Jan. 18 rally against the proposed pension
reforms is the participation of the citizens who initiated it and
their adhering to their principles, and not the participation of
the four political parties (Armenian National Congress, Prosperous
Armenia, Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Heritage Party)
that have joined the demonstration, said Ruben Mehrabyan, an analyst
with the Armenian Center for Political and International Studies, at
a press conference today, adding that past experience shows that when
citizens are not at the center of political processes such processes
turn into political games.
Mehrabyan admitted that it's good that parliamentary factions that are
not members of the ruling coalition are united and will participate
in the demonstration, but he advises not to forget that those parties
are quite spotty and some of them made compromises that were not in
the public interest with the ruling authorities in the past.
"We shouldn't exult from that unity," he cautioned, remarking that
some people consider positive that former president of Armenia Robert
Kocharian also spoke out against the pension reforms.
Note, the group initiating the struggle against pension reforms places
importance on the four parliamentary parties' participation in the
march also because those parties have appealed to the Constitutional
Court and have to keep an eye on the issue.
Accordiing to Mehrabyan, it's important that citizens who are
actively fighting, who are intelligent and the future of Armenia,
realize that this is not only an economic, but also a political
matter. "It's important that we turn the sectoral struggle into a
systematic struggle. We have examples of when there were sectoral
[fragmentary] successes; for example, the 100 dram [transportation
fare] campaign, which was magnificent. But now it's not ruled out
that city hall will again make such illegal decisions. The struggle
didn't lead to a change in policy," he said.