The Civilitas Foundation held its traditional end-of-the-year meeting with a presentation of Armenia 2011: Without Illusions, its fourth annual report, to a packed audience at Yerevan’s Golden Tulip Hotel, on Thursday, December 29, 2011.

The program, moderated by Civilitas analyst Tatul Hakobyan, featured guest speakers Lilit Galstyan,Member, National Assembly, Hranush Kharatyan, Ethnographer and Andranik Tevanyan, director of the Politeconomia Institute.

Hakobyan asked panelists about the 20 years of independence and missed opportunities in regional, domestic and economic areas. He also focused on the recurring miss when it comes to holding credible and fair elections.

Tevanyan stressed the importance of the most successful achievement of the 20 years – the Karabakh victory. He said, however, that as with other areas, we have not succeeded in taking ownership of that victory.

Kharatyan said that although this country belongs to Armenians, Armenians do not feel themselves the owners of this land. Nor have Armenia’s citizens come to defend their right to property, their right to the country’s resources, to the right to write law, to the right to have their rightful representation. In general, “We have not managed to become rightful owners,” she said.

Galstyan said that to speak of successes during the last year would be to speak in the spirit of Don Quixote, that the year was one of missed opportunities, when the failures of the country’s leadership deepened. Every Armenian feels him/herself alienated from the values of the system of governance.

Tevanyan stressed the importance of economic fundamentals for democratic development. He said the ruling system is self-destructing, it’s cracking from within, is more fragmented than ever, and that in the next parliamentary election, for the first time, the ruling pyramid will not be unified. For him, the order is clear: We must seek to impose economic democracy, and only after that will we have political democracy, “ he said.