Realpolitik and Blat

I've been in Armenia for the past few days following the latest disputed presidential election in a small former Soviet republic. The current prime minister, Serzh Sarkisian, has been declared the winner, but the opposition is out on the frozen streets protesting. Sound familiar?

Election observers have spoken of a widespread distrust in the whole electoral process - which is seen by many Armenians as riddled with corruption. My translator, an Armenian business student, gave me some of the background. He told me he really didn't care who became president because he thought the choice was between two equally unattractive prospects: either a continuation of the current regime, or total disruption of the existing order if the opposition won.

He said his parents were currently trying to use their education ministry contacts to secure him a place at a good university, although all the best places have already been bought by those with greater wealth or elite connections. He's also trying to bribe his way out of doing his compulsory military service, which he said could possibly cost more than $10,000 (like all other prices in Armenia, the tariffs for bribing officials have also been rising).

"Look at it from my position," he said. "If the opposition wins and the whole system changes, and all these officials we've been trying to deal with are kicked out, who knows if I'll be able to go to the right university or avoid having to waste my time serving in the army?"

For more views from Armenians on what they want from the future, here are some photo vox-pops we did in the country's two biggest cities, Yerevan and Gyumri. We also did a report about how some Armenians feel about the country's closed borders with its neighbours, Azerbaijan and Turkey, more than a decade after the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

PS. If you're wondering what 'blat' means, read this.