WE LACK THE CULTURE OF SUFFERING DEFEAT

For unknown reasons we (Armenians) are considered to be an extremely smart nation - definitely, smarter than our neighbors. Let alone for example Americans and sorry to say Belgians. That is to say Armenia is full of smart brains.
And above and beyond that, it is considered that whole world must learn from Armenians. See, how clever we are. But, even so, we are covered with lots of problems. Why? What if we also learn from the world? Learn from their experience.
And, by the way, we don’t have to go very far. For the beginning let’s learn from ourselves. For example let’s take lessons from the recent presidential elections that took place in NKR.
Did you notice how Bako Sahakyan’s principal rival admitted his personal defeat? With dignity! After the elections the latter appeared with an announcement, which particularly ran,” Of course there were a range of breaches that influenced the outcome of the elections, but we should underscore that they were not decisive. Most of the population gave preference to the present. The existing situation influenced people’s disposition, but meanwhile we must admit that it is a conscientious attitude. They could act in another way, but they didn’t and it is their right. I respect people’s choice.”
The same way Armen Abgaryan, Hrant Melkumyan and Vanya Avanesyan admitted their personal defeat.
Now let’s remember what usually happens in Armenia in such cases.
We all remember what improbable assumptions used to advance all the parties that have placed an order to participate in the previous parliamentary elections in Armenia, during the pre-election press conferences: about overcoming the 5% barrier, obtaining 10-12% votes, and forming majority in the National Assembly.
If we sum up the before mentioned mosaic of affectations, it turns out that our National Assembly has 400 and not 131 seats. The percentage is not 100 but 300%, and Armenian electorate was not 2 million but 7-8 million RA citizens.
And all this was in contrast to various sociological surveys, according to which except 4-6 political powers others didn’t enjoy popularity among the society.
That is to say the hullabaloo of the defeated parties, saying that their votes were “plundered” and scattered was quite natural. And it was also logical that RPA became the principal scapegoat of this upheaval. According to the defeated powers the latter ones (RPA), on the one hand stuffed the ballot boxes (in case when even the international observers highly appreciated the process of the elections). On the other hand, together with Dashnaktsutyun and Bargavach Hayastan parties they managed to bribe both the electorate and CEC members. But one thing is not clear in this condition. If the ballot boxes were already stuffed, why should they add supplementary votes to the already stuffed boxes?
Should we believe the statements that the Republican Party has “stolen” votes not only from the defeated parties but also the ones that won the elections we can assume that RPA has obtained zero or even less votes.
But what is really interesting - all the parties protested, even those parties that by miracle appeared in the National Assembly (“Heritage” and “Orinats Yerkir”). And even Bargavach Hayastan party complained.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the same is going to happen during the presidential elections. Maybe it’s high time to learn from Karabakh. Maybe it’s high time to stop looking for scapegoats and blaming others for our own mistakes.
After all the word “democracy” assumes not only gaining victory in the arena of political competitions, but also the culture of suffering defeat. The dignified attitude manifested by Masis Mayilyan and other presidential candidates that were defeated during NKR presidential elections can serve as a good example for us.
VARDAN BARSEGHYAN

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