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Christian Garbis
Christian Garbis is a writer and experimental filmmaker born and raised in Greater Boston. He received his BA in English and Certificate in Film Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has been contributing to the Armenian Weekly since 1994 and has served as an assistant editor for the paper. He lives in Yerevan with his wife and son and maintains two blogs documenting his impressions: Notes From Hairenik and Footprints Armenia. His first novel is partly based on his experiences in Armenia.
Latest posts by Christian Garbis (see all)
- Clara Russian, Genocide Survivor, Dies at 101 - October 11, 2016
- Questions Remain Unanswered for the Fate of Confessed Killer of Gyumri Family - January 20, 2015
- Yerevan’s Bus Fare Protests: A Timeline - July 29, 2013
What puzzles me, even if there was fraud, which there was, is why the Armenian people would vote for the two parties that represent oligarchs and corruption.
Even if the voters take money to vote a certain way, they can go into the voting booth and vote secretly the way they really want, can’t they? Tell me.
There is an old saying: “People get the government they deserve.” It is as true for Armenians as for any other people.
I don’t know – maybe the Armenian populace is so corrupted itself that it does not care. Perhaps their only complaint about corruption is that they themselves are not getting a greater share of it. Maybe most people are corrupt. I just do not know.
These are questions I have never seen answered. Is there anyone in Armenia who can answer these questions?
“People get the government they deserve.”
“I don’t know – maybe the Armenian populace is so corrupted itself that it does not care. Perhaps their only complaint about corruption is that they themselves are not getting a greater share of it. Maybe most people are corrupt. I just do not know.”
Totally agree with you.
We need a generation change. Did you notice that our new generation is more active and demanding? Did you see what happened to the Mashtotc purak? Things are slowly getting better in Armenia. It is just slow and many people lost their patience and left Armenia.
Davo, good question:
“Even if the voters take money to vote a certain way, they can go into the voting booth and vote secretly the way they really want, can’t they? Tell me.”
In order to ensure that their paid voters vote the proper way, parties give the voters a ready made ballot with their party checked off. They demand that the voters cast this ballot, and bring them back the blank ballot that is inside the voting booth. Only after receiving the blank ballot do they pay the voter.
This was told to me by an opposition member, former adviser to LTP, whose regime was not immune to fraud.
I hope this clears it up.
Davo jan, your questions are fair and seem well intended but….well….., need a
long (dissetation) answer.
DEAR DAVO, ANHOGH YEGHIR
IF YOU EXPECTING DEMOCRACY IN EAST, PLESE WAIT FOR 100 YEARS
BUT
IN ARMENIA SINCE WE ARE MORE “CIVILIZED” AND I AM A L ITTLE BIAS WE NEED MAYBE 50+ MORE YEARS
“There is an old saying: ‘People get the government they deserve.’ It is as true for Armenians as for any other people.” –Not exactly, Davo. People didn’t elect their past governments in free and fair elections so these governments represented them. If people were able to get the government they deserved, we wouldn’t have a majority of semi-literate thugs in the parliament, because it is hard to believe that our nation consists of thugs or thug-sympathizers largely.
Arsen,
People in Armenia elected LTP and his government in the first elections (not the second time). Did Armenians at least deserve that government ? It was the worst in my opinion.
Sella,
It can’t be said it was the worst in terms of composition: there were many intellectuals in the parliament in contrast to what we have today. Did Armenians deserve that government? I don’t think so. But remember that it was first ever free election after 75 years of totalitarian rule. Remember also that LTP’s clique won the majority of votes running on Artsakh liberation platform. My point is that had the elections been free, we would have members of other social layers represented in the parliament, not just thugs (well, mostly thugs). In this sense, it can’t be said that our parliament accurately reflects on the fabric of eligible voters of our society. Thus the saying ‘People get the government they deserve’ cannot be applied. After all, it’s just a saying, not an axiom.