Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan celebrated his 100th day in office with a rally. That, perhaps, is his best way at getting across what he wants to say, and it was also a test to see if he truly enjoys the same support from the people as he did during the days of the revolution. I think that the results of this test were positive- yes, the majority of Armenian citizens still massively support him.
Now, here are my thoughts according to the contents of the speech.
- Response to Kocharyan. The second president, in his two interviews, tried to show his teeth, and the prime minister showed his. Kocharyan’s teeth aren’t that sharp. He, unlike Serzh Sargsyan, cannot evaluate the situation adequately, and he doesn’t notice how the majority of society feels about him (besides perhaps a few hundred bureaucrats, who dream of returning to their ‘previous enjoyment’). Kocharyan isn’t the same ‘dreadful’ Kocharyan without his administrative level and only with his property.
- Transitional justice. To prevent this from being too long, I suggest that you look this up online to see what it means. Then, those people who have doubts will be convinced that the events which took place in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe over different periods of time had nothing to do with ‘totalitarianism’ and ‘revolutionary tribunals.’ Just the opposite- they were aimed at bringing together the past and the present. Of course, those events can be either good or bad. In the second case, just as the same international experiences show, instead of coming to a compromise, there will be a new opposition.
- The prime minister spoke in regard to judges whom he thinks are given orders from former authorities. He demanded that they ‘come to their senses.’ If this isn’t a threat, then, in any case, it can be seen as a guideline and interference. The working authorities’ representative or leader shouldn’t evaluate the work of judges. By the way, he also shouldn’t announce which media stations are ‘anti-government.’
- Since the prime minister’s resignation and the parliament being required to dissolve after not electing a new prime minister twice is risky for Pashinyan (the Republican Party could try and bring forth their own candidate), he is suggesting that the constitution changes and that the parliament should decide on dissolving on its own. This is logical. But it brings forth the question of how that will be done- will this be a decision made by the National Assembly, or through a referendum? I think that the second option is best.
Aram Abrahamyan
