I have a difficult time understanding some apparently decent people. How is it possible for an honest person to respect the current leadership of Armenia?? It bothers me... When an otherwise nice, smart and decent young woman is prepared to vote for Serzh Sarkissian, I am disturbed. 

Indeed, in the most objective and unemotional analysis of Robert Kocharian's and Serzh Sarkissian's years in power it is very difficult to find any real achievements in 
1) building a democratic state, with institutional separation of powers and functional checks and balances;
2) establishing (in reality, not on paper) a basically fair and transparent system of economic regulations;
3) promoting the rule of law and the respect of dignity and essential rights of Armenian citizens.

Although I don't deem these failures historic (only because in 1998 when they came to power there was no historic window of opportunity, no national movement, and the duo was not the popularly elected and admired leaders) they nevertheless have cemented the corrupt oligarchic undemocratic system that was established under the previous leadership of Ter-Petrossian. Hence, by 2008 Armenia has become just a typical post-Soviet soft-authoritarian country much like, say, Kazakhstan today. 

This is the reason I am morally disturbed when otherwise mature decent people support Serzh Sarkissian now.

P.S. I use the same sentences from my previous post to underline the qualitative continuity of the two regimes...