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Houry Mayissian
Houry Mayissian is a communications professional with journalism and public relations experiences in Dubai, Beirut, and Sydney. She has studied European politics and society at the University of Oxford, specializing on the democratic reform process in Armenia as part of its European integration. She is currently based in Yerevan.
Latest posts by Houry Mayissian (see all)
- Aztag Daily’s Kandaharian on Supporting the Lebanese Armenian Community - July 7, 2020
- In Solidarity with the Armenians of Lebanon - June 12, 2020
- COVID-19 and the Test for Good Citizenship - March 17, 2020
“another phenomenon is emerging in Armenia: issue-based civic opposition.”
This is good news. The issue-based campaigns by a civil society have been a powerful engine of democratic change in other countries as well. They can be more effective than naked calls for change of government, which has been the traditional (and ineffective) approach by opposition parties. The strengthening of this movement puts the government in Armenia before a dilemma. It can either address the issues and retreat bit by bit from its grip of power over the Armenian society, or face more disruptive opposition. This will keep undermining the legal and institutional bases of the regime, which will help bring about democracy in Armenia.
What this issue-based civil society, especially lawyers and other professionals, need to focus on now is a new constitution, or at least changes to the constitution of Armenia, including more frequent elections, greater independence for the judiciary, and stronger language for protections of freedom of speech and other human rights. As I have stated many times before, the current constitution of Armenia is a mess which provides huge legal loopholes for the regime to keep its grip on power. A new constitution will have to be modeled after existing constitutions of successful, established democracies that have proven their success. My preference, as I have stated before, is the constitution of the United States, the longest-surviving modern democracy, itself a model for many later constitutions. This is because the U.S. constitution has helped the United States succeed in three characteristics that we all want for Armenia: prosperity (largest economy in the world), strength (most powerful country), and stability (200+ years of the same constitution).