The current state of Armenia described in a single word might be termed as uncertainty. It is displayed in a number of spheres - political, socio-economic, cultural, academic and even human relations. Not only has uncertainty penetrated into every strata of public domain embracing people from all walks of life but it has become an integral part of their lifestyles.
Everything seemed certain before 2018: there was a regime, whom a significant part of the public wanted to get rid of. However, with such public mistrust of electoral institute it was natural not to believe in the possibility of change in the regime by lawful means. There were activists and NGOs, practically the heroes of our days, who unfailingly fought for the right to live in a healthy environment, human rights and fundamental freedoms and other similar issues.
Finally, there were forces of opposition who stood against the regime. Their core mission was fight for “fair” elections. Likewise, there was another type of opposition who abused the atmosphere of hatred which considerable part of the public felt for the regime, yet, they made a secret deal with the same regime. In its turn, the regime made decisions that were favorable for itself and its team, in the meantime public opinion was extensively neglected.
This was the main logic of the political life in Armenia before 2018, and we have to repeat that everything was simple and predictable then. They knew their job and their place in public matrix.
However, April-May 2018 upset their plans. The desired change of regime was made, moreover, election results were acceptable for the public. On the whole, no one cast doubt on the legitimacy of the incumbent authorities. The main internal and external challenges Armenia faced seemed to be met and it was implied that the economy would flourish shortly, corruption would be eradicated, “the international community” would warmly embrace us, the people would start to make the country prosperous, and love and tolerance would reign everywhere. This is the 2018 dream of the major part of public who “took step” and “rejected Serzh” under the flag of the change of regime. However, everything seems to be the other way round, “the international community” has become more indifferent towards us, giving way to an unprecedented atmosphere of mutual hatred, political field devastated, the economy slowly but steadily collapsed, and the people becsme more depressed and troubled. It appeared to be hard to live under the circumstances of both coronavirus and uncertainty.
No wonder, there is something up with it. The public is confused about what to want and whom to blame. With no goals and unawareness of whom to blame, people do not know for or against whom to fight. It brings about the feeling of uncertainty.
However, the time of uncertainty can be interpreted two ways as a) a phase before a new storm, b) degradation of value system, where nothing links people any more, and we become incomprehensible and uninteresting for each other. Let us see which of the two versions of uncertainty would we be destined.