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October 1, 2002 For Immediate Release National Citizens’ Initiative
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NCI coordinator Hrach Hakobyan made opening remarks to the capacity audience. “Do the traditionally and publicly accepted conceptions of morality become the grounds for an ethical approach to the methods applied and the objectives stated in political life or, on the contrary, is morality in general framed by the influence of political processes? Today we will try against the background of Armenian realities to shed light on the possibilities of political morality, the developmental directions of Armenia’s domestic processes, the spiritual-ethical and cultural factors constituting those directions, their foreseeable evolution, and the societal levers to influence their outcome.”
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Manuk Harutiunian, senior researcher of the Institute of Philosophy and Law at the National Academy of Sciences, concentrated in his keynote presentation, “Politics and Morality,” on the relationship among aims, means, and methods in politics and ethics. “Public life in Armenia is characterized by deep distrust toward the ruling elite, toward those who dominate the country’s political and economic resources. The majority of ordinary citizens realize that ‘big politics’ are conducted without their participation. And those who play the political game act almost exclusively for personal and parochial gain, ignoring the national interest and public opinion,” he said.
In his intervention on “The Spiritual Components of Professionalism,” Ruben Aghuzumtsian, chairman of the Psychology Department at Yerevan State University, said: “Armenia lacks any institutional structures for training politicians, especially professional ones. Both in Armenia and Russia, serious studies have demonstrated that political figures can be considered to be professional on the essential basis not only of ethical character traits, but of their patriotic qualities as well.”
Gevorg Poghosian, director of the Institute of Philosophy and Law at the National Academy of Sciences, delivered a paper on “Shaping New Social Systems.” “We are transiting from socialism to western-style capitalism. The world is changing, and any nation that is unable to change its economic and political system in timely fashion will find itself in the third world. That danger applies also to us. If the transition is not made in a timely and correct way, we will face a serious economic crisis,” he said.
The formal presentations were followed by a full discussion among former Prime Minister Aram Sargsian; “Nation-State” party leader Samvel Shahinian; “Democratic Fatherland” party leader Petros Makeyan; dean Douglas Shumavon of the Political Science and International Relations Department at the American University of Armenia; chairman of Armenia’s Helsinki Committee Avetik Ishkhanian; political scientist Stepan Grigorian; retired national security officer Gevorg Sargsiants; writer Norair Adalian; NCI councilmembers Hrach Tatevian and Moushegh Lalayan; NCI founder Raffi K. Hovannisian; and many others.
Summing up the day’s deliberations, NCI councilmember Hranush Kharatian noted: “The political system in our country is deemed to be democratic, which presumes a society operating according to horizontal relations. But what we so obviously have in Armenia are vertical relations, which are characteristic of ‘aristocratic’ governance. Herein lies the immorality—calling one system by another’s name.”
The National Citizens’ Initiative is a public nonprofit association founded in December 2001 by Raffi Hovannisian, his colleagues, and fellow citizens with the purpose of realizing the rule of law and overall improvements in the state of the state, society, and public institutions. The National Citizens’ Initiative is guided by a Coordinating Council, which includes individual citizens and representatives of various public, scientific, and educational establishments. Five commissions on Law and State Administration, Socioeconomic Issues, Foreign Policy, Spiritual and Cultural Challenges, and the Youth constitute the vehicles for the Initiative’s work and outreach.
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