Serzh, Serzh, Serzh

There will be a presidential election held in Armenia, and Serzh Sargsyan will be re-elected without an honest contest. That’s why there will be no real election rallies held, and no chants of “Serzh, Serzh, Serzh” will be heard anywhere on his campaign trail.  But just in case people were to gather, I would expect a few sheep-herders from Karabagh to actually show up, but then only with the promise of a sack of flour, and a kilo of sugar.
I may cite endless reasons why Serzh Sargsyan should not be re-elected. But I’ll spare you the clichés about corruption, and instead make my point with a few others.

1-  Education
You would hope that a president of an impoverished country, which Sargsyan is, would prioritize and then fund education as his primary goal. The neglect to effectively teach the youth in schools is emblematic of Sargsyan’s own skimpy vocational schooling, and thus a lack of understanding of the value of intensive teaching and learning to stimulate identity, entrepreneurship and technology. For having failed to rebuild Armenia’s educational system and wasting the nation’s opportunities, on a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero on education.

2-  The Genocide
Ignorance towards the Genocide is a serious Serzh Sargsyan problem. In 2010 he took on the initiative to convince Armenians to sign on to the principles of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols with hints of agreement to allow a review and revision of the historic facts of the Genocide with Turkish historians. With the intent to open the border between the two countries as his only selling-point, Sargsyan failed. And when he failed, he reverted to an announcement that was outright offensive.  He is on record for having said that the Genocide was an experience specific to the diasporans anyway, and not native to the hayastantzis, thus further deepening the schism between us. For his misunderstanding of the ramifications of "this thing" called genocide, on a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he has gone from one blunder to another.  For your information Mr. Sargsyan: When in conversations with say, the White House, any referance to The Medz Yeghern is not “the” Genocide.  Armenians have endured multiple medz yegherns (major calamities), and one Genocide at the hands of the Turks. Those who must avoid the word "genocide" have done their homework, and will use any alternative buzz words that seems right, to fool the illiterate and the ignorant. Read some books, ask, and learn from the experts muchacho.

3-  Crusaderism
By marching a battalion of priests, wearing camouflaged vests, at a military parade celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Armenia’s independence in Yerevan, Sargsyan and his administration, have demonstrated a poor sense of Armenia’s geographical location and national interests. Did he ever consider for a second that Armenia’s neighbors are Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey? It is advised that he studies the sentiments towards Armenians by ordinary Turks living across the border from Armenia. Sargsyan and his FM Eduard Nalbandyan, on a scale of 1 to 5, get a zero for having the audacity to venture into crusaderism.

4-  Science and Research
There’s something fundamentally wrong in the system when Prof. Harutyun Karapetyan, the chief scientist of the Center for Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences ends up returning an award given to him by the President while rejecting the mores of the criminal oligarchic system that has grasped the scientific community, which should be above politics to begin with.  In his open letter to the President, Karapetyan lists, amongst his reasons to return the award, government officials who receive scientific degrees and academic titles through falsification, while the administration acts as if it is deeply concerned about science and research.  On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he has abandoned Armenia’s scientists and intellectuals.

5-  The Big Thing
Sargsyan and his bunch are already late in organizing and leading the resources of the Republic of Armenia, the Diaspora, and all entities Armenian anywhere and everywhere around a comprehensive unified plan to “do the big thing,” and tell the world about the Genocide and the human rights of the Armenian people, and to define the place and role of Armenia in the world on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary in 2015. On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero as a leader of Armenians.

6-  Mister Opportunity
The pathetic picture was everywhere, including the LA Times. Sargsyan at Paruyr Hayrikyan’s bedside in a hospital. The latter is Sargsyan’s rival in the presidential elections, and had just survived an attempt on his life while campaigning. Sargsyan has not, and will not pay a visit to the graves of rival politicians who really mattered for Armenia - Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen Sargsyan - and who actually were assassinated in broad daylight inside the parliament.  Now that would have been a campaign photo worth releasing to the press! On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he is an opportunist. 

7-  Chess Anyone?
By the pure force of individual talents, the National Chess Team is the only institution in Armenia that is independent, successful, worthy of accolade, and world famous. It is free of nepotism, profiteering and harassment, and Serzh Sargsyan has been shameless in having appointed himself president of the Federation with the lull of an NBA franchise owner. The question that begs for an answer: Does Mr. Sargsyan play chess? On a scale of 1 to 5, Sargsyan gets a zero because he has given himself entitlements to the nation’s sacred institutions.

Having said all that, Serzh Sargsyan is “ma man” for President of Armenia. I want him to win the election (as he will) for two reasons:

One – Should the issue of Karabagh come up again with Turkey and Azerbaijan, I would like to see him, a Karabaghtzi, at the forefront negotiating the fate of his mountains. Now, that would be a task worthy of his worthless presidency!
And,

Two - Because he wants it. He really wants it. Sargsyan is convinced that Armenia deserves him, and he is gung-ho to return to power.

Well, he can have it. With an economy and population shrinking under the watch of his first term, he may end up actually carving a name for himself in history… as the first president of the fairy tale “Republic of Yerevan,” a mini version of the one he inherited.
Take heart Mr. Sargsyan, many city-states were actually very famous during the middle ages!

Serzh, Serzh, Serzh…. zzz!