Pashinyan says Armenia needs new state-centered opposition

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that Armenia needs a new, state-centered opposition. The PM touched upon the issue during a live broadcast on his Facebook page, addressing the results of the local self-government elections held in 19 communities in Armenia on October 25.

The ruling Civil Contract party won by a wide margin in most of the communities.

“Yesterday, local self-government elections were held in a number of communities in Armenia, as a result of which the Civil Contract party, or, so to speak, pro-Civil Contract candidates and teams, won a landslide victory. This situation needs to be assessed politically from several perspectives. It is not a simple situation, and I want to present my assessments and perceptions. First, during the parliamentary elections, I had promised, and it was my commitment, that the Rob-Serzh-Kaluga-Ktrich forces, or, in a word, the espionage forces, the four-headed party of war, must be destroyed, and the results of the local self-government elections show that this has happened with the help and support of the citizens of Armenia. But, on the other hand, I want to speak honestly and directly: as someone who assumed the office of prime minister of Armenia as a result of the 2018 nonviolent Velvet Revolution, I am by no means happy that we received 90-plus, 80-plus or 70-plus votes in a number of communities, because, however pleasant these figures may seem at first glance, these percentages evoke certain associations. But they also raise the question of the opposition in Armenia. We must assess this situation correctly: on the one hand, we must indeed uproot the espionage opposition, which is controlled from abroad, from Armenia, but on the other hand, Armenia must have a state-centered opposition,” the prime minister said.

He emphasized that they had discussed this issue in various formats and raised the question of what the government could and should do to facilitate the formation of a new opposition.

“Our conclusion is that we should do nothing, meaning that we should not be practically and actively involved in this regard. Otherwise, we could end up in a worse situation and attempt to restore the worst practices in Armenia. You remember that Armenia had what was called a client and controlled opposition. That is equally disastrous for Armenia. But I believe that a new, state-centered opposition and a genuine opposition must emerge in Armenia, one that engages in real political activity rather than espionage. It is obvious that this is necessary, but, on the other hand, the government cannot and must not create an opposition, because that would be a controlled opposition, a fake opposition,” Pashinyan elaborated.

The solution, he said, is for non-ruling and state-centered forces in Armenia to become more active.

“We naturally cannot support them, but we will not hinder them in any way. We are interested in the genuine formation in Armenia of an opposition that acts based on the interests of Armenia and the Armenian people and is grounded in democratic values and logic, rather than one that operates through electoral bribes or by investing stolen and plundered wealth in politics and turning politics into an instrument for protecting what has been looted. I am raising this as a very important item on the agenda, but what I am saying at this point is rhetorical. At this point, I can congratulate us all on successfully carrying out the work of destroying the espionage opposition, or the four-headed party of war, with the support of the Armenian people, of course. But it is also obvious that Armenia needs a new, political, democratic, state-centered opposition,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan stressed that the Government of Armenia is carrying out institutional reforms and will continue to do so to ensure that this state-centered opposition emerges.

“I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to this agenda. Of course, while congratulating all our candidates and teams that won landslide victories in the communities, I want to say that our joy has also given rise to certain concerns, and in the coming period, we must hold public discussions on how to proceed and how to work toward forming a political system in which a state-centered opposition emerges in Armenia and also exercises genuine and constructive oversight over the actions of the authorities.

“I want to say that in our communities, too, where no strong opposition has emerged as a result of the elections, the issue of public oversight remains unresolved. I hope that public groups and civil society representatives will fulfill this function, but on the basis of truth,” he noted.

Pashinyan once again emphasized that “the four-headed party of war must be uprooted from Armenia, and the criminal oligarchy and mafia must be uprooted from Armenia.”

“With the October 25 local self-government elections, the issue has been resolved to this extent and in this respect, but, as I have had occasion to say before, when you solve one problem, two or three new problems emerge. Now, we have solved one problem through yesterday’s elections, and three new problems have emerged. First, how can we ensure that the election results do not create the impression of authoritarianism and dictatorship? Second, how can we ensure that an objective mechanism of public oversight operates in communities where a high level of trust has been received? Third, how can we ensure the formation in Armenia of a state-centered, young, intellectual, objective and honest opposition that is governed and guided solely by its own voters and citizens? These are questions we must think about,” Pashinyan concluded.