NORAYR EBLIGHATIAN
One Nation, Two States and a Diaspora:
At present we constitute one nation with two republican states and a Diaspora. Most of the literature of nation-building is about a nation-state structures, therefore our solutions cannot be from these traditional sources and have to be indigenous, even when we adopt/adapt some key ideas.
When we refer to the structure of Diaspora-2, there are two categories:
- The reform of existing institutions, primarily by bringing them to the 21st century. For example, our school system, our media, our church.
- Erecting new institutions that we do not have at present. These are more challenging as they assume a change of perspective & values.
In the previous posts, there was mention about reform of current structures:
- Schooling: The current system is based on a neighborhood, proximity foundation; and we have stretched its reach by busing. For example, my granddaughter lives 3-4 minutes away from her school, but because of busing she spends an hour each way to and from school. Even busing has its limitations and it is time to come up with a new system. My personal suggestion is that one of our Armenian communities develops a prototype of distant schooling that we can emulate and refine.
- Creation of an Armenian “Erasmus+” program under the aegis of the Armenian Republic Ministry of Education, between High Schools and Colleges of Armenia, Diaspora and Artsakh.
“Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Organizations wanting to participate in Erasmus+ may engage in a number of development and networking activities, including strategic improvement of the professional skills of their staff, organizational capacity building, and creating transnational cooperative partnerships with organizations from other countries in order to produce innovative outputs or exchange best practices.” Source: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/node_en
- A similar process of prototyping & refinement can be applicable to our other institutions.
- Finally, I believe in religion and the organized church; and my challenge is the following: What is the current role (in the context of nation-building) of the Armenian Church that gave us the Armenian alphabet, preserved our culture for hundreds of years, gave us institutions like the Mekhitarist monastic order and father Ghevont Alishan (who created the first modern Armenian flag)?
Armenian Representative Leadership in the Diaspora:
My main focus in this post will be on new institutions, and the elephant in the room is the Armenian representative leadership in the Diaspora. I understand that for some of my compatriots this is a taboo subject, and others will argue that it is too difficult to implement. But, permit me to elaborate.
The current leadership in the Diaspora represents existing stovepipe organizations. It has done its job as best as it could, but one should also admit that it has no constituent legitimacy. Furthermore, it has reached its peak of effectiveness and efficiency.
Why not have democratic elections where all Armenian community eligible voters choose their representatives? And if a current leader is popular to be voted through a wider group, then his/her popularity is reinforced and legitimacy secured.
The suggestion is to have a bicameral system, where a Diaspora unit would elect its own representatives, that focus on the unit itself. And, each Diasporan unit representative body would elect an overall Diasporan Assembly. This would entail 2 houses:
Lower House: A network of Diaspora unit elected representatives.
Upper House: Would be composed of Lower House representatives elected for that purpose.
The number of representatives in these houses, their elected time period and other crucial issues can be discussed and refined by Armenian constitutional experts. Nor should all these units be created simultaneously; again, the prototyping process can be adopted and developed over time.
The final point that I would like to stress is that the technology for distributed electronic e-voting systems exists. These systems cover the eligibility, privacy, completeness and soundness concerns.
Armenian Diaspora Constitution:
For me, it is fascinating that an intellectual (Shahamir Shahamirian) in Madres (present day Chennai) India, wrote an Armenian proto-constitution in 1772 called “Vorokait Parats”. He writes “Every human being, whether Armenian or of some other race, whether man or woman, born in Armenia or brought there from another country, shall live in equality and shall be free in all their occupations. Nobody shall have the right to enslave another person and workers should be paid like in any other kind of job, as is laid down in Armenian legislation”.
Similarly, the “Armenian National Constitution” was the 1863 Ottoman Empire approved, form of the code of regulations. The 150 articles of the constitution defined the powers of the Patriarch and the newly formed “Armenian National Assembly”.
The printed media of Istanbul at the time has many viewpoints and arguments about the Constitution and the Assembly.
I am confident that the Armenian communities (even with some input from constitutional experts of the republic) have the capability needed to draft a constitution for itself.
What is missing at this point is the recognition and the will.
Armenia-Diaspora Relations:
- High Commissioner for the Diaspora Affairs: The Image that I have attached to this post is the web page of the Diaspora sub-ministerial office. It is quite fascinating that the web page is empty.
I am sure that Mr. Zareh Sinanyan is an honorable man; but if the readers want to know what are the projects that the High Commissioner is working on, they have to write to him and ask (his email is on the page).
I myself would like to suggest that the Diaspora establish a similar agency and ask the Republic government to abolish its High Commission. The Diaspora should be able to manage our own affairs, and do not need someone who would distribute medals to us. This would also avoid any criticism of a possible interference of the Republic in any other state where there is a strong Armenian community.
The Republic can replace this office with a “Veratarts” commission that would focus on immigration to Armenia.
- ADBU (Armenian Diaspora Benevolent Union): It is high time to have a benevolent union of the Diaspora. We should take care of our own.
- ADU (Armenian Diaspora Fund): The Diaspora needs its own financial support institutions.
The examples can be many, but I hope that the point was made about the need to start working on the needs of the Diaspora and building a Diaspora-tow:
Interesting post. I hope you are in touch with HyeID who is working on a similar plan.