Authorities Plan to Ratify Istanbul Convention in Parliament in January-February 2020

The newspaper "Fact" reports that yesterday, students from the Faculty of Philology at Yerevan State University staged a walkout. They were protesting against the initiative to make the subjects of "Armenian Language", "Armenian Literature", and "Armenian History" non-mandatory at universities.

In addition, the tensions surrounding the intention to remove the subject of "History of the Armenian Church" from the school curriculum have not settled down for days, along with the controversial financing of the "HuZank u Zang" event. These issues have stirred unrest in society, and in order to alleviate public concerns that the government is taking overt actions against national values and the church, Prime Minister Pashinyan organized a meeting with participants of the Supreme Spiritual Council meeting, declaring the importance of spiritual values and initiating a housewarming ceremony at the government residence.

Concurrently, Mrs. Anna Hakobyan, the Prime Minister's wife, visited the National Gallery of Armenia and shared a photo stating that our identity begins with our history, religion, and culture.

Within this context, it should also be noted that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, while criticizing the organization of the "HuZank u Zang" event, presented to the public that they supported the production of the artistic film "My Cross". The attempts to conceal these themes are understandable and logical. However, what is surprising is why during these days, initiatives that contradict our national values are coming out one after another, provoking public discontent towards them.

To answer this question, one needs to consider the context in which these actions are taking place, and in this regard, it is noteworthy that the authorities intend to discuss and ratify the Istanbul Convention in Parliament in January-February 2020. The discussion and ratification of this convention carries the risk of causing a significant wave of discontent since it contains provisions that are simply unacceptable to the vast majority of the population.

For this reason, prior to starting the process of discussing the convention, the authorities are actively preparing, which includes gauging public sentiment to understand whether it is possible to make phenomena that do not stem from our identity-defining values acceptable to the public.

In this regard, Prime Minister Pashinyan's recent live broadcast was a certain test of public sentiment. The authorities are trying to ascertain the impact of the arguments presented by the Prime Minister on public attitudes, whether a live broadcast by the Prime Minister could be necessary or useful during the discussions of the Istanbul Convention.

Recognizing that they will face serious resistance, the authorities have essentially decided to implement tactical steps to postpone the ratification of the Istanbul Convention for a certain period during which they will actively try to convince the public in various ways that the adoption of the convention poses no danger.

Perhaps the likelihood of such a practice is evidenced by the reports spread in pro-government media that during a meeting at the office of the ruling Civil Contract party, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that the issue of the Istanbul Convention would be "frozen" for the time being, and tasked parliamentary group members to be sure to familiarize themselves and discuss this matter.

More details in today’s edition of the newspaper.