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On the Importance of Action

All along, the overarching criticism of Raffi Hovannisian’s post-election protest campaign has always been his lack of strategy and poor planning. The haphazard, unorganized nature of his activities came to a head this past Tuesday: Inauguration Day.

At his noon ‘alternative’ inauguration, Hovannisian continued his railing against the authorities but made no mention of any radical or immediate actions. In fact, he generated disappointment from the crowd when he called on them to return at 6 PM for another gathering and was heckled when he announced another rally next Friday to discuss his party’s platform for the upcoming Yerevan elections.

People angrily yelled “Heema! Heema!” (Now! Now!) in response and demanded immediate action.

Later, at the 6 PM gathering, this state of affairs continued and, in response, Hovannisian announced a march to the Presidential Palace on the spot.

What resulted was a completely spontaneous and energetic, yet futile and utterly disorganized march on the streets of Yerevan.

The defenseless crowd (including many elderly, women and children) was met by hundreds of riot police who had the full force of the state at their disposal. Activists were arrested, protesters pushed back, and even some of Raffi’s team got caught in the melee.

It was a standoff with no direction or plan whatsoever.

At one point, Jirair Seifilian and his supporters parted through the crowd in an orderly line, suggesting some sort of organization might develop. However, they were literally disbanded in a matter of minutes once they reached the front, as police advanced on the protestors and wielded them back in response to objects being hurled.

Meanwhile, Raffi disappeared from the scene (we found out later that he went to the Genocide Memorial with the Chief of Police).

None of it made any sense.

By most accounts, the confrontation on Tuesday was a failure. Indeed, many commentators in Armenia have referred to it as the death knell in Hovannisian’s movement—and perhaps even his career.

However, while I certainly share in the criticism of what transpired, I personally think the day’s events may have some positive effects, as well.

Taking the protest from the arena of Liberty Square directly onto the streets and toward the center of power was a symbolically profound statement initiated by the masses themselves. The whole episode was an example of the people leading the leader, and expressing disapproval of the presidency first-hand.

Furthermore, such action, despite its ineffective and volatile nature, is a raw outpouring of the people’s uncontrollable anger with the regime and an important manifestation of sincere passion. It is better to act and show those in power the level of hostility the public holds for them than to continue holding rhetorical rallies and empty victory gatherings.

In the end, it is my hope that such popular actions will serve as a warning to authorities about the level of stringent opposition in the country and hopefully provide lessons about more refined strategy for future activism on the ground.

Of course, true change will not come from popular protests or mobilization alone. It will only come from the one thing which has always been missing in Armenia’s reality: ORGANIZATION.

The force and passion of the people for a better future must be channeled into an actual mass movement that can affect change. The disparate groups in the opposition and the disgruntled masses must all be unified in thought, word and deed. No more relying on leaders or saviors. The people must be organized from the ground up toward concrete steps which force healthy changes in the country.

This takes hard work (far beyond just rallies and ballot boxes) and will not happen over night—but there is no other way. There never has been. There are no magic buttons. Gatherings and platitudes must be replaced by grassroots organization and genuine democratic action.

Barring anything short of that, the regime will continue to maintain its grip on power and perpetuate its regressive policies.