Saturday, 07 December 2024

E Editorial

Odd man out: Nikol is left alone

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When asked about the most notable characteristic of the 2024 presidential election campaign in the United States, the overwhelming majority of experts are likely to highlight the obvious emphasis on values at the core of the election contest. The pre-election discourse largely focused on value-driven topics and human-centered issues, including family, gender strategy, religion, homeland, culture, and history.

The outcome, which fluctuated between traditional conservatism and neo-liberalism, ultimately favored the former. This time, Donald Trump's team succeeded in surpassing the extreme left liberals, whose defeat appeared to resonate widely. We observed similar trends in Europe, where Hungary’s illiberal leader Viktor Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party won EU election, similarly Georgia's pro-Russian Georgian Dream party, Robert Fico, currently serving his fourth term as Slovakia's prime minister, and other conservatives triumphed over liberals. Additionally, issues like LGBT rights and foreign agent (essentially proxies for left-liberal ideologies) bills were central to the opposition's campaign against the Georgian government.

This indicates that the struggle was primarily centered on the value system. It is no coincidence that, in an effort to secure the votes of American Armenians, Trump did not reach out to the leadership of the Republic of Armenia—aligned with the left-liberal wing or identifying as followers of liberal values. Instead, he contacted the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I, whom he viewed as a key mediator in relations with the local Armenian community. It is evident that Armenia is being increasingly sidelined in international affairs. Russia was the first to highlight this, through the remarks of Maria Zakharova. "We did everything so that Armenia does not feel abandoned or forgotten," the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated in May.

Indeed, Armenia today, in the truest sense of the word, has become an island of left-liberalism, surrounded by countries that have embraced a conservative course: Georgia, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia… Its ruling political force finds itself out of regional and global developments. To confirm this, one needs only examine the ideology of the Civil Contract party, heed the ominous statements of the current prime minister, observe the provocative speeches of his wife, or scrutinize the so-called "reforms" implemented by the minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport. The ideological and political bankruptcy of the Civil Contract party becomes evident to all.

What does the most anti-national government in Armenia's post-independence history advocate? We will present a few key points for those unfamiliar with the ideology of the Civil Contract party, which, in reality, promotes a nation-destroying agenda: a) refusal to recognize Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide, b) abandonment of the concept of the Armenian Diaspora, c) rewriting the history of the Armenian people and other Armenian studies materials and textbooks, along with revising state and national symbols, d) diminishing the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church, equating it with other religious organizations, e) promoting an influx of migrants aimed at altering the national composition of the population. This list represents only a part of their controversial platform.

In general, the Civil Contract party has long since exhausted itself. Nobody takes the political power governing Armenia seriously anymore—not Armenia's traditional allies and friendly countries, nor the Western actors referred to as the international community, nor even local stakeholders, whose recent group dismissals serve as proof of loyalty to the current regime. However, this topic deserves separate attention.

The Armenian Center for National and International Studies

Yerznkian 75, 0033
Yerevan, Armenia

Tel.:

+374 10 528780 / 274818

Website:

www.acnis.am

  

The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Center.

While citing the content, the reference to "ACNIS ReView from Yerevan” is obligatory.