"Thank you Nikol Pashinyan" ….? Mr. Allan Simonian "hidden notion?" to deprive “opposition” deputies from their mandate

Lately, the speaker of the parliament of the republic of Armenia, Mister Alain Simonian made yet another controversial statement

He warned that the opposition members of parliament of the “Armenia Alliance” parliamentary bloc should return to the parliament sessions, and he seemed to make an indirect warning of penalizing the opposition members of parliament to deprive them of their mandate, should they not attend the next sessions

In order to try to be as object as I can, and try to get the accurate concrete information

According to : https://www.1in.am/3161923.html

Mr. Simonian Said:

"The opposition should think about returning to the parliament, the work of the National Assembly is not affected by it in any way, they are affected by it," NA Speaker Alen Simonyan said in a conversation with journalists today, referring to the statement of the "Armenia" faction to boycott the National Assembly sessions. "They continue to occupy rooms, receive salaries, but do not come to the sessions," said Simonyan, continuing. "I got acquainted with a study. a survey was conducted and 90 percent of our citizens, regardless of their political interests, have a negative attitude towards this way of working. As for the future, I don't think we're going to give them another chance to not come here and let it go without consequence." The Speaker of the National Assembly answered the question, "Does this threaten to deprive the opposition MPs of their mandates?" "I'm not threatening, I'm saying it directly, and that's the requirement of the law."

Armenian National Assemply speaker Mr. Alain Simonian

Armenian Version of this Article
 

« Մերսի քեզ Նիկոլ Փաշինյան… ?????». Ալան Սիմոնյանի թաքնված ցուցումը՝ «ընդդիմադիր» պատգամավորներին մանդատից զրկելու մասին 

Now to try to be fair, objective and express my impression from all angles, I want to discuss this scenario from as much aspects ass possible

First of all, I do not know about the Armenian constitution, I know about this scenario from my Lebanese experience, yet again, in Lebanon, all decisions must be based on consensus, because Lebanese is governed by various religious groups, and the approach was that every single decision must be taken once consensus is provided by all major religious groups, so no group feels ignored or stepped upon

True, from one angle this is a good practice, this ensures that no large portion of the Lebanese fabric feels ignored, stepped upon

Yet again, this also brought catastrophes to Lebanon ford decades, because so often this consensus and unity around crucial points was not provided, this paralyzed the country on dozens of occasions, presidents were not elected because a majority above 55% was not provided, and Lebanon delayed to elect a president and remained without a president of the republic twice for more than a year, government formations were delayed for months, all this paralyzed the institutions

But, this practice also has its extremely positive side, in ideal democracies; majorities make sure to ensure that minorities never feel ignored, or their position not taken into consideration, they are not heard, that they are unable to participate in the process of decision making or expelled from their national role, just because they are a minority

Now I covered this scenario from a theoretical perspective, an analysis based on the general idea, on principle, but I want to cover it also from the practice and implementation that took place in the republic of Armenia since 2018, when the Civil contract came to power, thanks to a democratic peaceful revolution which was led by the people, by the civil society, but suddenly it was declared that it was created thanks to the current prime minister Mr. Nikol Pashinyan, who was declared the champion of the people and the liberation, the Messiah, the Hero

In the most popular song of the revolution, the lyrics say:

“Thank you Pashinyan Nikol “ ???????????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpuuM1wecso

Now some might say, what does this has anything to do with the actual political process, it is a song, and anyone emotional can spread such emotional phrases

Indeed, but I can argue that this mentality, approach, logic took over, and I can even go further to declare that this is the very approach that distorted the revolution, twisted and diverted it into a path of boosted egos, attitudes that evolved into arrogance and stubbornness, and this was the very reason that the revolution sank, even back at the last quarter of the year 2018, the revolution actually sank, and I and a lot of people warned over and over that the revolution lost its sense of direction, and that it was only a matter of time until the revolution which relies on the popularity of prime minister and the support of people will its momentum, and become a circumstantial temporary majority with popularity declining, no one listened

After the snap elections in 2021, the “Civil Contract” Party lost a majority of 80% of voters and more than 880,000 votes to a majority of 53.7% of 49% of voters with 680,000 votes, thus achieving a technical, constitutional and democratic majority of 53.7% but actually less than 27% of the votes

And to make a notion of taking away mandates, Mr. Simonyan has no moral or national/patriotic right to try to make notions that steps will be taken to deny deputies of the opposition from their mandates, such a step should never be even mentioned, and if the constitution states such an article, it must be reviewed and removed, in my humble opinion, because that means to step over and deny the choice of the voters, while the voters chose this option, regardless of their representatives behavior (which I see as extremely negative), and regardless of the logic of the voters choice (Which I regard as wrong, but who am I to decide what is right or wrong in the citizens will)

From their own, the term “We enjoy iron Mandate” – Therefore “ we can do whatever we see fit” has been declared, used, repeated over and over again, by the Prime Minister, by the speaker of the house Mr. Simonion and by others, this argument, became a slogan, not only that, it became a justification, a ready to use argument, a mentality, an approach, and an implemented policy

From the very first day Mr. Alain Simonian was elected speaker of the Armenian Assembly, the young inexperienced polit5ician did the classical mistake so many inexperienced p[politician’s fall for

It is ok to be inexperienced, but for him to be so unwise, and for his surrounding not try to warn him, reveals a pattern the Civil contract suffers, that is to repeat the same mistake over and over again, yet follow the same path regardless of its failed results and consequences

Mr. Simonian had the illusion that he has to demonstrate he is a strict tough strong leader, with a stubborn non compromising attitude, one that would like to show he is in total control, but that went wrong, and the center opposition soon discovered his strategy flows, he demonstrated lack of tolerance, lack of flexibility, absence of wise and smart approach to handle the situation, the opposition was able to provoke him over and over again, in situations where they exposed his character of someone who lacks tolerance

Yes it is true, that the opposition misbehaved, they wanted to paralyze and cripple the sessions, a goal they so often succeeded to realize, thanks to his lack of agility to absorb and defuse the tension, he still went too far with his failed tactic, he appeared someone who lacks creativity and resourcefulness by calling on the security guards at every incident, and for Armenian security guards to enter the national assembly is a weakness for the entire republic and the democratic system, but it seems Mr. Simonian kept on his pattern of a partisan leader, and not a state leader

And yes, to be fair and objective, for the opposition to boycott the sessions is something that can be arguably extremely hurtful and damaging for the republic, and I find it counterproductive and meaningless, yet not to agree with it and criticizing it, is one thing, but to condemn it to the extent of making notions of penalizing it, is indeed an act worth condemning

In democratic systems, minorities and opposition, have the right and sometimes practice it, as a democratic expression of protest, it is an expression, one in which staying muted and not participating in parliament sessions is an expression of its own

That being said, I do not see the current two blocs inside the parliament as constructive, I think they are a major part of the problem; the other major part is the current majority

That is because both parties are using the National Assembly sessions as a means for partisan and political propaganda, to exchange accusations, make arguments that are futile, meaningless, counterproductive,  they are not discussing project there, they are simply brining there political quarrels, arguments, dispute to the parliament, and both parties are using very improper and sometimes even vulgar methods to try to settle there arguments, insults, shouts, curses, sometimes even physical violence

The National Assembly is the most sacred institution, it symbolizes the republics democratic culture and richness, it symbolizes the will of the people, and for these representatives to not absorb this guideline and concept and behave the way they do, and they insult the symbol of our democracy and offend the will of the Armenian people

To Finalize, Mr. Simonian might have a point, but yet again he ruins his argument and his perspective by once again trying to impose his will by proclaiming himself the absolute who enjoys the authorization of the people of the republic

Bedros Manoukian

A concerned Armenian Citizen of the great republic of Armenia