Hranush Hakobyan is the exception, having, having won 5 terms on majority vote.

“I always compete with men and always win,” she says, “for one reason: I have devoted people. My team members and friends do not sell themselves.”

“I always compete with men and always win.”

Hakobyan is a member of the Republican Party of Armenia, the predominate body in the ruling faction. She is also chairwoman of the standing committee for science, education, culture and youth issues. There would be more women in government, Hakobyan, 52, says, if women themselves trusted each other. She says, though, that women instinctively see men as the guarantors of security and safety of family. “We are all born equal by nature, why should gender matter? I believe it at least barbaric, when people differentiate between the sexes,” says Hakobyan.

She says reasons for the problem are different. Hakobyan believes both nature and the national mentality clearly define the role of the woman in Armenia. Family comes first for Armenian women, and only then come public activities.

“After graduation women get married, have children and lag behind their male peers for at least ten years. Falling behind for ten years means to lag also behind the quickly developing world processes. And it takes time to enter the sphere of politics,” says Hakobyan.

To consider being a leader a woman, Hakobyan says, first considers the attitude of her father, husband, brother or son.

“We are the ones to be blamed. Women with unformed personalities are sometimes appointed to a position where they prove unable to manifest themselves, and disgrace the image of Armenian women,” says the deputy. “People are cautious of assigning women to positions. Besides, men’s incompetence is not as obvious as that of women, because women are few and attract more attention.”

Hakobyan says she does not support an artificially created equality of men and women. She believes filling the seats in the parliament with ‘dolls’ through quotas is meaningless.

“All these measures will be useless unless there is a natural equality,” she says.

“I always joke, saying that draft laws and government decisions are always written by women, but passed by men. Ladies, let’s write laws that are better for us. We give birth, we educate and raise men and then say: ‘Rule us’.”

“I recently appeared with a statement at the Assembly. Instead of speaking about the problem we were debating, the male deputies of the same political force spoke about the differences between men and women,” says Bisharyan. “They said ‘you are a woman that’s why we won’t respond to your statement.’ What does it mean? Or do they think a woman in Armenia is just for standing in the kitchen with her apron on?”

Bisharyan, 45, is also a member of a standing committee on education, science, culture and youth issues. She says her gender is irrelevant on the parliament floor.

“ . . . do they think a woman in Armenia is just for standing in the kitchen with her apron on?”

“I give my tenderness to my family. When I speak of the hardships of my country I forget I am a woman, because it’s my work,” she says. Bisharyan initiated a draft law on equal opportunities and equal rights for men and women sent to the government for examination this year. The negative response following a governmental examination stated women are protected both by the Constitution and the Labor Code. “But it’s not true. They say there is no discrimination against women and they have no obstacles, but women are never given positions in the executive,” she says. “The draft law would fill the gap by giving women opportunity to be involved in all circles [of power].”

Bisharyan thinks Armenian families were preserved during the last 15 years thanks to the strength of the Armenian women alone, when men were fighting in the war or were off to Russia for work.

“When women were carrying on the task of preserving families, which was a matter of preserving the nation, no one said she was unable to do so and no one denied the fact. But when there are positions and political activities at stake, the attitude is negative,” says Bisharyan.

The deputy unequivocally supports the idea of increasing the number of women in politics because she thinks women will positively influence the field. She also reiterated the fact women lose in falsified elections.

“I can definitely say this as a person who has gone through several elections: it is difficult for a woman to fight against ‘total connivance’ and local criminal authorities who are capable of anything,” she says. “Women do not want to get involved in such games: it’s a matter of dignity.”

Bisharyan says women are also handicapped by the increasing costs of campaigns. If fair elections were held, she says, money would not be such an issue.

“I was elected through the Orinats Yerkir party list by just campaigning honestly. If the quality of elections changes the number of women will doubtlessly increase,” she says.

Bisharyan is also confident the best way to fight corruption is to appoint women in managerial positions. She says the possibility of malfunction on the women’s side is very low, because women will not go deep into bribe-taking or corruption.

“Women instinctively know where to stop. Every woman tries to keep her family unsullied and clean, avoiding any kind of risks. I think she will use all those abilities also in the politics,” Bisharyan says.

“This is a mine field.”

“This is a mine field. If you are not ready, don’t go into politics. If you are already there – try to escape the blows. No one will do you favors in this field, it’s not a ballroom,” says Avetisyan. Avetisyan, 33, is the youngest among the female members of the National Assembly. She confesses she is not afraid of the blows. A member of the United Labor Party she is also a member to the standing committee for state and legal issues, as well as the temporary committee studying the efficiency of use of transfers, credits/loans, grants and humanitarian aid from foreign countries and international organizations.

While seeing women become more engaged, Avetisyan says the reason in giving preference to men in managing positions is in the following: “I always recall my grandmother’s words. She had been at a managing position for many years and she always preferred not to have female subordinates. When asked why she would always say: ‘Either their children are ill, or they are pregnant.’ She meant that women always have too many family problems because family has always been a priority for them.”

Avetisyan, a mother of one, believes combining family and political activities is a hard task.

“To be half a housewife and half a politician – will the outcomes be sufficient? I think this is the main reason of passivity,” she says. “Although women have better ideas, are more hard-working and more responsible than men.”

Avetisyan disagrees with the opinion women rarely vote for women.

“I don’t think women deliberately avoid voting for women: women vote for men based on habit and the tradition,” she says.

The NA member supports the idea of increasing the number of women in the parliament; but she thinks also raising quotas will not solve problems.

“We need to have a professional parliament instead of the artificially created National Assembly based on the gender merit. Let the number of women in the parliament grow, but the problem is not in the quantitative balance. The problem is the actual quality.”

“It was not my place. My place is in business. State and society are prosperous when every one is in his place,” she says.

Hovhannisyan is a founder of Grand Candy, one of Armenia’s most successful companies and is also a board member of Grand Holding. She is a member of the powerful Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaks) parliamentary faction, she is also a member of the standing committee for foreign relations.

“Our national mentality has not reached the point when persons are viewed independent of gender.”

The deputy says politics is cruel game and does not spare anyone. She says despite the potential, many women do not survive the cruel rules of the struggle. “Our national mentality has not reached the point when persons are viewed independent of gender. I recently asked a question to the Minister of Finance and Economics Vardan Khachatryan and got a rude and impertinent answer,” says Hovhannisyan. “He was so rude that I, as a woman, couldn’t manage a response to him. Someone else might be able to, but I was not.” To be successful in politics a woman must become coldhearted, purposeful, smart and put aside her emotions.

“They should forget they are women to be able to neglect false rumors and to be courageous. No matter how well they work they will appear on the black list of slanderers,” she says.

Nevertheless she supports the idea that women should play a decisive role in politics, but thinks their involvement should emerge naturally, not artificially.

“I am for the increase of quotas for women, but I am not sure it will result in qualitative changes. I think we need a school to train politicians before they enter politics. We are unprepared when we enter it and before we can understand the way we should work until our terms are over.”

Hovhannisyan says Armenian women voters lack an icon.

“We don’t have someone like Margaret Thatcher in Armenia so that people could see her and say: ‘I want to be like her.’ The society’s perception of women in politics is different,” she says. “For an intellectual woman starting a struggle is even more difficult. How to manage to stay a woman and to be able to struggle, to withstand the persecutions and be able to win? Armenian women will have fewer problems when they manage to combine all these things.”

“My activities outdoors are in no way connected with my activities at home.”

“Tradition is very strong among them. Our women still don’t understand that a woman standing side by side to a man may be much more powerful and cleverer than he,” she says. Petrosyan does not want to join a feminist movement based on the American model; she says that model does not fit Armenia. “One can’t take such measures without studying the specificities of a given nation. We set restrictions for ourselves. We should gradually move ahead,” she says. Member the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Petrosyan, 61, is also engaged in the standing committee for social, healthcare and environmental protection issues. ARF is one of the parties favoring a 25 percent benchmark quota for women.

“There are mirror reflections in nature. Where there is man there should be a woman; they thus help each other,” she says. “Women are law-abiding; they have the feeling of responsibility and are very cautious.”

She is confident women are privileged to instinctive insight that men do not share. One should not enter politics or the public sphere without being authoritative. According to Petrosyan one should have a clear say, without being boring, without excessive aggressiveness or humbleness.

“I have seen how women politicians have been offended; thank God, nothing of the kind has happened to me yet. It is sufficient to insult a woman and she becomes vulnerable, but men curse each other and do not become vulnerable. And a question arises: whether the man is not more miserable than the woman who has been offended?” she asks.

Petrosyan recalls that in 2003 she received anonymous phone calls threatened the life of her son, if she did not stop her support of her party and the President before the parliamentary elections.

“I said nothing then, not to have them feel I was frightened. I am not a coward, but I don’t like violence and I don’t like when someone threatens my will and my mind,” says the deputy. “I don’t run away, if I am engaged in something then I will go till the end. Still I will not do that at the expense of moral values, because there is no passion in me winning by all means. There are plenty of women who could win that way.”

Petrosyan escapes from the political and public life with her family.

“I love being in the kitchen at home. I love to be surrounded by the books I read and the ones I write; I love pen and paper – those are habits that protect my gender and individuality. My activities outdoors are in no way connected with my activities at home,” says Petrosyan.

“A woman politician that is endorsed by society will win unequivocally in case elections are free and fair.”

“No matter how terrible the attack on October 27th was, it could not force me to quit my political efforts. Even more, it gave me power and made me more became decisive,” she says. A member to the standing committee for foreign relations, Khudabashyan has no party affiliation and is not included in any deputy group or faction. The deputy says the sensitive and the fragile essence of a woman frequently serves as an obstacle in taking an unyielding position in politics. She shares the opinions of others that women face obstacles due to ingrained perceptions and “national identity”.

“But I think also a woman can treat the well-being of her country the same way she treats her family as she tries to achieve peace and provide its prosperity,” she says. “However, the increase in the number of women should not be forced and should be natural.”

Khudabashyan says women’s activities in politics are a necessity conditioned with patience, organizational aptitude and the feeling of responsibility women possess. Women politicians make the moral-psychological atmosphere less tense.

“A woman politician that is endorsed by society will win unequivocally in case elections are free and fair,” says the deputy.

Being a politician, Khudabashyan says, is not a profession. One needs to have an innate prudence, self-confidence, courage and unshakable demeanor in order to be a politician.

“But women are strong and patient as much as they have gentle souls and sense of conscience. They can fight against terrorism, fear, falsehood and fraud,” she mentions. “That is why the increase in their number in the legislative field will have positive results as women are law-abiding and have strong sense of responsibility.”

“We lack the connection between equal rights, equal opportunities and equal results. Do we want to get equal results by declaring equal rights without giving equal opportunities?” asks Naghdalyan.

“Women make political decisions better: they make them more human.”

Naghdalyan, 47 and a Parliament Member since 1995, says the Constitution and her legislative body give women only a formal freedom. In reality, however, there are number of obstacles that do not allow for equal results of the equal rights. The main obstacle, she says, are women themselves. “Women say we are different by nature, society will deprive us of equal opportunities itself,” she says. “We need to get rid of this kind of thinking.” The deputy says the pyramid of power in Armenia has plenty strong women engaged in the work of Non Governmental Organizations on the ground level. But the higher the level, the less their number.

“If we are to qualify women’s influence on political decision-making, then we should formulate it the following way: women are present in the bottom and the middle levels, but their number drops unexpectedly in the top level, where the decisions are actually made,” explains the deputy.

Naghdalyan believes quotas for women in the National Assembly are the only solution to the problem. She says quotas for the last 20-30 years have helped the European, and particularly the Scandinavian countries reach 40-50 per cent women representation in their parliaments.

“Women make the political decisions better: they make them more human. I have always said that the power of conviction will come to replace the power of obligation,” says Naghdalyan.

Naghdalyan’s own power of conviction was first tested in 1995.

“In 1995, when I ran by majoritarian vote, 19 of the 20 nominees were men. They were hard to win over, because the struggle for power is an aggressive thing in itself,” says Naghdalyan. “It is hard, when the game has no rules. Of course, that’s an ugly game, but elections today are based mainly on this principle.”

Women who join “the game”, she says, should be industrious, humane, and properly prepared.

“I think it is equally important parties do not bring a certain number of women to the parliament just because of obligation. They should initiate creation, preparation and promotion of women politicians and then bring them to the parliament,” she says.

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