Armenia’s Pop Stars support Republican Party
I wondered in a previous post how long it would be before Armenia’s pop stars did what they normally do during elections — that is, come out in support of the powers that be — and now it looks as though they have. Ironically, at least one of those who has lent her name to support for the ruling Republican Party was performing at a Prosperous Armenia concert last weekend.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS; A group of Armenian pop stars have announced today their support to the governing Republican Party.
Shushan Petrosian, Aramo, Suzan Margarian, Sirusho, Zaruhi Babayan, Arame, Arsen, Arminka, Alla Levonian (she was, by the way, appointed last week UNICEF Armenia Good Will Ambassador) and some others said they will be touring across the country to sing for voters and urge them to vote for the Republican Party.
Announcing their support at a news conference the singers explained they agreed to back the party because they share its ideology.
“The Republican Party is our friend and it has always been by our side helping many singers organize their concerts,” Shushan Petrosian said.
Suzan Margarian also praised the party for its support to Armenian pop stars saying now the time has come for them to pay back.
Anyway, culture is inseparable from politics here. We knew that already, but I wonder if the choice of Alla Levonian doesn’t represent a conflict of interest at the UNICEF office in Yerevan given that it did for one local employee who recently spoke at an opposition rally and was effectively fired from UNDP.
According to those rules, posted on a special election monitoring website of the Armenian branch of Transparency International, U.N. employees “shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting their status as international civil servants and shall not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the proper discharge of their duties.” They can join a political party only if “membership does not entail action, or an obligation to take action, by the staff member contrary to staff regulation.”
Certainly, the clause under which Aramazd Ghalamkarian was fired is the same as in the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador guidelines. However, I doubt the issue will even be raised despite the high profile media coverage of Levonian’s appointment during the election campaign period.
In general, however, Goodwill Ambassadors and Messengers of Peace are expected to:
• Respect the impartiality and independence of the United Nations and to refrain from any conduct that would adversely reflect on the United Nations;
• Refrain from any activity incompatible with the purposes and principles of the United Nations;
Personally, I think Aramazd Ghalamkarian should be reinstated unless he personally chooses to continue his political activities, but anyway. Certainly, the United Nations should not selectively apply its own rules and regulations depending on the political persuasion of those it chooses to work for or represent them.
What “ideology” ? I wonder if they have even read their program. It all comes down to personal gain. Armenian entertainers and singers have always supported the ruling regime (regardless of their “ideology.”)
Comment by Nanul — April 27, 2007 @ 1:51 am
Interesting, talking of Aramazd Ghalamkarian, his name appears to be slowly starting to gain attention from those keeping an eye on the conduct of the United Nations worldwide. No sooner had I made this post, I noticed from my statistics that the UN in New York is already following mention of his case online.
Well, he wasn’t effectively dismissed from his position for his blogging activities, but anyway. However, I know that when privately asked about Aramazd, the UN Residential Representative did mention his blog which is politically tainted, so who knows?
Maybe that also factored into the equation and the decision to dismiss him. If so, it’s outrageous.
Comment by Onnik — April 27, 2007 @ 2:00 am
1) The pop singers, a.k.a. sold out puppets of the regime and oligarchs, are of a very little interest to self-respecting people (I regret Shushan doing it since I know her personally, and fundamentally she is not a bad person).
2) On UN firing Aramazd. Could you find out more about the “staff regulations” that he allegedly acted “contrary” to?
Everywhere it was this info that you placed too:
…“shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting their status as international civil servants and shall not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the proper discharge of their duties.” They can join a political party only if “membership does not entail action, or an obligation to take action, by the staff member contrary to staff regulation.”
He just joined one of the political forces. So what? What the hell? Are they telling that all UN employees should be non-partisan? That’s absurd! So what does “staff regulations” say that Aramazd violated?? That he cannot participate in public meetings and demonstrations held by his party? That he cannot criticize the current regime? It’s ridiculous. A more savvy person would definitely pursue legal action against the UNDP and likely win.
Comment by Artashes — April 27, 2007 @ 4:26 am
Actually, the quote from rules and regulations under which Aramazd was (effectively) fired was from the document the UN used as justification for his effective dismissal. That was passed on to me from the UN Residential Representative in Armenia via CRD-TI Armenia. The UN Res Rep refused to answer my questions or talk to me on the matter, instead saying they would only discuss the matter with the head of CRD-TI Armenia who would then tell me what was discussed and pass on any related information. Like I said, the UN — and some other organizations in Armenia I could mention — really need to clean their act up regarding how they operate, especially when they keep on saying how much they believe in press freedom here.
Comment by Onnik — April 27, 2007 @ 1:10 pm
re: “… the UN — and some other organizations in Armenia I could mention — really need to clean their act up regarding how they operate, especially when they keep on saying how much they believe in press freedom here”.
The international organizations treat Armenia like a sort of a post colonial third world country. While there is no doubt that Armenia is not very advanced, such treatment degrades the country even further into “third-world”-ness. Given the mental capacities of the majority of the ruling elite, there is no hope that they can resist this kind of treatment.
Comment by nazarian — April 27, 2007 @ 8:47 pm
The Armenian Blog Review also posts on Armenia’s pop stars coming out in support of the Republican Party.
Comment by Onnik — April 28, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
Well, you know what will happen. You’ll be taken to court and sued in the United States by myself and EurasiaNet for copyright infringement so I wouldn’t recommend you use any pictures without posting the full credit line as used with the pics on this blog.
However, use of photos from this blog with the full credit line and copyright information made for not-for-profit use is alright.
Comment by Onnik — April 28, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
Hovik, I would advise that you do credit use because copyright infringement is a very serious issue in the United States. There is such a thing as “innocent copyright infringement” which is still a violation of the law, but as I’ve made it clear here in this comments sections and also in the copyright notice on all pics, there is copyright indicated. In the case of the EurasiaNet photos it should also be taken for granted that both myself and the publication in question will defend our legal rights.
As I see it, if someone uses my photos online without credit I will contact them first to inform them that they should credit use. If they don’t, then I would contact their hosting provider telling them a site on their server is breaking the law and should be closed down immediately, and after that take the matter to court where the financial penalty for copyright infringement is very high indeed. However, if people want to use photos for not-for-profit use with a full credit given, I’m happy to see the work reach a wider audience.
Comment by Onnik — April 28, 2007 @ 9:01 pm
Incidentally, thanks for reminding me about this situation as RFE/RL broke copyright a few weeks ago and have ignored all my emails to date which means they are knowingly breaking the law. Anyway, I’ve just sent the following email to them.
Comment by Onnik — April 28, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Finally I have a response from RFE/RL:
Comment by Onnik — May 4, 2007 @ 12:54 am