Diaspora's skewed portrayal of Armenia

 Vahe H Apelian

Symbols of Armenia

I was going to title my blog differently but decided to be blunt and title it the way I did.  I will conclude my blog reflecting on the title. So, bear with me if you are interested.

The  2021 Armenia election results were as follows:  The Civil Contract party had 54% of the votes and has 71 seats in the National Assembly, the Armenia Alliance had 21% of the votes and 29 seats,  and “I Have Honor” alliance had 5 % of the votes, and 7 seats. If you tally them, the number adds up to 80% of the votes.

 What happened to the remaining 20% of the votes? They were cast to an astonishing 20 plus some parties who had registered to take part in the election but did not qualify to have a representation in the National Assembly. Simply said, these votes were not cast in favor of the present day government or the present day opposition but were cast in favor of the other parties.

What happened to that remaining 20% of the votes, if the recipients of these votes did not qualify to have representation in the NA? Those20% of the votes that were not cast in favor of the Pashinyan led Civil Contract or for the ex-presidents’ led coalitions, were absorbed by the government and the opposition. That is why the 54% majority is now 67%  (2/3) of the National Assembly and the 26% opposition is now 33% (1/3) of the National Assembly. I leave this issue at that. I have written or should I say blogged about how the National Assembly make up comes about with varying total seats.

Having said this and in order to make a point about political diversity in Armenia, I would like to present Levon Shirinyan (Լեւոն Շիրինյան) and the Christian-Democratic Party (CDP) (Քրիստոնեա-Ժողովրդավարական Կուսակցություն), he leads.

Levon has his Facebook page where he comments frequently. I believe he has his own radio hour or television program, as well. He is not a “nigolagan” – to make a mockery of those who use that term. He also is not against “nigolism”, again to make a mockery of those who use that term. But he is far righted. He is an advocate of a fourth republic. He also is Armenia-Centric. 

His Wikipedia biography in Armenian states the following in Google translation. 

“Levon Ghazari Shirinyan (January 8, 1953), Armenian political scientist, public figure, head of the Department of Political Science and History of Law of the Armenian State Pedagogical University, doctor of political sciences (2007), candidate of philosophical sciences, professor, author and host of "Quo Vadis" or "Where are you going, Armenia" program. One of the promoters of the political concept of the Fourth Republic of Armenia in the field of Armenian political science.”

I have attached below three comments he made recently.

InGoogle  translation:

“ From the homeland.

      This year we are giving ourselves and our consciousness a good boost. We are cleaning the mossy niches there. We are restoring our Armenia-as-CENTER thinking.

       We remember our past losses with horror. But we don't live with memories of the past.

         And we will win.”

**

In translation:

“From the homeland.

   #CDP has started the persistent and unrelenting struggle for the reconstruction of Armenia from today. It will be a year of struggle for intellectual and moral rebirth, without noise and cry. A year without chaos, but with fundamental questions and proposed solutions.

      We call it  a r t a sh e s y a n year. We expect success.”

**

 In translation

“Carefully read the ribbon of the reformed Coat of Arms of the Republic of Armenia

     "Justice is the foundation of the state." Let me warn you, Armenia, whose statehood and society will not be fair, is worth nothing. Look around you. Look at your life. Be aware of recent losses. Learn from your own experience.

    Just Armenia and that's it.”

a

Christian-Democratic Party coat-of-arms

***

Coming to the title of the blog.

There is another important aspect about those 20% votes, I alluded earlier. They also get lost as the news of the political make up of Armenia trickles down to the Diaspora. Hence for the Diaspora it becomes Nikol Pachinyan and his Civil Contract party vs. Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan led opposition when the reality on the ground in Armenia is more complex than that simplicity. The trickled Armenia political make up becomess the Diaspora's version of black vs. white, it often uses to ridicule the Civil Contract coalition, governing Armenia.

Other important aspects of the Diaspora that play a vital role for the Diaspora’s skewed portrayal of Armenia as a figment of the Diaspora’s imagination of Armenia, are the following: the Diaspora way of life and the Diaspora Armenians’ lack of mastery of the Armenian language .

I will present our own extended family. My wife Marie reads Armenian as she was, like me, schooled in Armenian schools in Beirut and Aleppo. But she has no interest in Armenian politicst. I have not seen her read Armenian newspaper. Maybe she has done it occasionally but below my radar. I do not think she is an exception.

The younger generation of my paternal and maternal cousins, my brother is deceased; and also the younger generation of my extended family do not know how to read Armenian. That is a fact of life in the West, and especially for those who were born and raised in the west or came to the West, (Europe, U.S.A., Canada, South America, etc.) at a very young age. To make ends meet is getting more difficult by the day for the young and upcoming, which does leave time to know the political make up of Armenia. Also, the official language of Armenia is their own brand of Armenian that I too, at times have difficulty in understanding every word at first glance. But that does not present a hinderance for me to follow them but it surely is a hinderance for those who do not know the language.. 

Consequently, Diaspora’s information about politics in Armenia is skewed because it is bound to be skewed at best, if not malinformed at worst. It behooves us in the  Diaspora to be cognizant of that reality to form iron clenched opinions thousands of miles away from the arena.