Winner’s curse

“I do not think the RPA will be ready to leave the power till the next national elections. Do they have the potential to understand that they have to change or we will lose our state or the historical opportunity of state building? Or, if they do not understand this, there will be greater emigration from the country,” says Artur Martirosyan of Boston, a negotiation expert, senior advisor to CM&Partners company.

He believes this is a “winner’s curse” as Armenia’s transaction goal was the exclusion of war, and now there is small possibility of resumption of war: “It is a luck but the curse is that we have come to a self-reliance – there is no major threat that can make us understand that we need urgent change. We need serious change and it is the responsibility of the political elite to send that message both to the republicans and other parties, and if they fail this and the situation continues the way it is, in 20-30 years we will have more serious crisis. The sequence of the steps and what needs to be done can be identified depending on who the leader is. No one can create the vision of the country alone – it is about teamwork.”