THE PUBLIC COUNCIL HAS A SERIOUS MISSION

Interview with KHOSROV HAROUTYUNYAN, chairman of the Armenian Chrstian-Democratic Party and member of the committee coordinating the organization activities of the Public Council

“Mr. Haroutyunyan, what has your committee managed to do so far?”
“In the course of the past month, the committee carried out its work with great responsibility. Robert Amirkhanyan, Tovmas Poghosyan, Emil Gabrielyan and the others have initiated intensive work. In the working groups consisting of 10-15 members – citizens and representatives of public organizations, we discuss all the issues concerning the Public Council. Those discussions are not only useful but also instructive.
Our principal goal is to take maximum advantage of the situation and change the fragile achievement into a system. Regardless the future representatives of the government and the opposition, the interrelations and ratio between them, the voice of the people should be heard by the authorities. And the authorities should always feel that they are the organizers of the process of rendering public services. And the Public Council has its own role in this process.
The Public Council should be responsible for such functions and missions that cannot be implemented by other state government bodies. It may not repeat the activities to be implemented by other structures. If some state government body works improperly, it is necessary to reform it and not set up a new body instead of it. The Public Council should find out what gaps it may bridge in the state government system without repeating the functions of any state government body.
Let’s agree that we had a well-organized, strong and determined opposition in the past. Let’s recall at least what was going on in 1996. However, there was no situation like this because the authorities were not politically mature then. This is the peculiarity of the present-day situation. To miss this chance will mean to be badly mistaken and be too open-handed despite the limited public potentials.
The Public Council must be able to achieve a serious turning point, eliminate the divide between the authorities and society and make the voice and concerns of the people heard by the country’s top leadership. The activities of the Public Council should contribute to the normalization of the moral-psychological atmosphere of the public. And this pre-supposes the participation of the citizens in decision-making processes.
Up to the second half of the 1990’s, we had never had a non-professional government. The Government had never been in a state of idleness but the public demands were not satisfied, and the people were discontent despite the fact that life constantly changed for the better.
The reason is that the public does not participate in the process of attaining results. The mechanisms of public participation in the decision-making processes have been totally eliminated. And when the public does not have its participation in the process of attaining results, it becomes indifferent and is unable to evaluate them.
Therefore, the Public Council should have a primary task of introducing mechanisms of participation and make the major part of society participants in the decision-making processes. In this way, the Public Council will contribute to the formation of civil society. We have even envisaged that the Public Council will submit an annual report representing the situation with civil society. Such report may be used by international organizations as an objective assessment.”
“And to what extent is it advisable for the Public Council to be a body operating under the President?”
“Although the Public Council is the advisory body of the President, it should be a counterbalance to the presidential staff, the Government and the National Assembly. In that way, the Public Council will give the President the opportunity to have alternative approaches to matters of public concern.
The Public Council should be a body standing above politics; it should express public opinion and be independent. The voice of society should reach the highest tribunals through its channels. The matter does not only consist in voicing the issues but also contributing to their solution. This work may be effective only in case the country’s top leadership is aware of the consultations and responsible for bringing them to life.
The Public Council will not pass decisions or laws. Neither is the President of the country obliged to comply with its proposals. The Public Council may advance different proposals to the President, specifying the attitudes of different members of the council with regard to different issues.
It’s quite possible that, guided by political considerations and the political principles of organizing public life, the President may approve the proposal advanced by 4 rather than 60 percent of the representatives of the Public Council. However, he will be aware of all the opinions existing in the public. And if the President does not approve any of the proposals of the Public Council in case of solving a specific kind of problem, that fact will give rise to concerns. The thing is that the Council and a proposal cannot be overlooked.”
“And will the members of the Public Council work on voluntary bases or their work will be paid?”
“The coordinating committee and the working group unanimously share the opinion that the Public Council cannot work on paid bases; a member of the Public Council cannot carry out paid work. This is a public activity. Each member of the Public Council should work with the personal motivation of keeping up his public reputation and raising it continuously. He/she cannot have material interests.
If the first staff of the Public Council is formed in the right manner, the successfulness of this body may be guaranteed. If the existing enthusiasm ends in disappointment, the consequences will be deep, and there may be unpredictable political developments. The people have always had expectations’ however, the situation is different now because there are all the pre-requisites to see such expectations as accomplished facts. We mustn’t miss this chance.”
GEVORG HAROUTYUNYAN

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