ARMENIA: WHAT SARGSYAN’S RESIGNATION MEANS?
SACRAMENTO- Today marks a victory for the Armenian people across the Republic of Armenia and in the Diaspora. Hours ago, former President, now former Prime Minister, of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, resigned from the “given” post of Prime Minister. It becomes important to understand who Serzh Sargsyan is, what the 11 day Revolution is, and how Armenia can go forward.
Who is Serzh Sargsyan?
Serzh Sargsyan was the third President of Armenia and was recently appointed as the Prime Minister of Armenia for the second time (the first was in 2007)after the constitution was changed to give more powers to the Prime Minister, making the Presidential post rather powerless. What becomes very interesting is that this action very much correlates to what took place in Russia with the Putin-Medvedev power shift. Readers might recall, this incident occurred when Dmitry Medvedev became the third president of Russia in 2008 and Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister until constitutional changes were made. Finally, Putin went back into power as President and Medvedev to this day is the Prime Minister of Russia. What is interesting is that the relationship that the current power in Armenia has with the Russia is very close. In other words, Russia has served as a prime example of “bad role modeling” to Sargsyan. Of course, this is not to dismiss the fact that the Sargsyan political clan is simply corrupt and bad period.
Sargsyan’s rise in power is not limited to just the last decade. What people seldom talk about is his past before becoming the Prime Minister and the President of the nation. It gets even worse. Sargsyan was the head of the Stepanakert City Communist Party Youth Association Committee and he later served as the Second Secretary, a role where he was the first secretary to the Stepanakert City Committee Propaganda Division Head, a committee which loudly voices the sentiment opposed to Armenian Values: to fight for democracy and anti-communism through time.
There is a sentiment in Armenia that these corrupt politicians have the backing of the Russian Federation, which to a degree gives these so-called elected officials the cause to think they can run the republic like their own personal property, and this all has to with Armenia being a former Soviet Republic.
But the 11 day revolution proved the opposite. Armenian’s across the world were not afraid to take control of their own country, their own politics, and create a fair election.
What does the 11 day revolution mean?
The 11 day revolution was just like any revolution that Armenian’s have participated in the past thousands of years of its own history. This 11 day protest was a way for the Armenian’s to finally stand up and say they had enough of corruption, having the same individual shift posts for personal gains, and not seeing any growth in the country. Mainly, this 11 day revolution meant standing up for freedom.
To thousands of Armenian’s protesting in Armenia and outside of Yerevan, Armenia’s capitol, this was more than personal — it meant to fight to keep the Armenia that is surrounded by enemy countries which would be more than happy to see it disabled. For Armenians in Armenia and across the globe, this wasn’t going to happen. Put another way, this revolution was part of housekeeping, part of keeping a democracy and part of running a republic.
Armenia onward?
Yes, this morning was victorious for the Armenian people around the globe. But the work is not done because let’s face it: many of posts in the Republic are associated with and are appointments made by Serzh Sargsyan. In order to achieve the full goal of ending the Sargsyan era, Armenia must clean its parliament and always remember that Sargsyan’s quick resignation doesn’t mean that he is going away. After all, his ties with Putin, oligarchs, and current members of the parliament and certain posts will bring him back. Armenian’s will have to continue fighting, rid the country of its oligarchy, and realize that a snake doesn’t move loudly, but is quiet in its movement.