Despite the fact that some people think that Nikol Pashinyan’s government will remain forever or it will at least remain for several decades, that will not be the case, essentially. Everything comes to an end sooner or later; trust in my own experience. Before the next regime change takes place, I think that now is the right time to learn from our destructive mistakes and avoid repeating them. Within this context, I will allow myself to give two pieces of advice to Armenia’s future government.
Do not divide society and the Armenian nation into blacks and whites or the former regime and the present regime. There will be patriotic people and worthy professionals who can serve the state among the former regime (at that time, Pashinyan’s regime), and among the former-former regime. Being a part of Pashinyan’s, Sargsyan’s, Kocharyan’s, or Ter-Petrossian’s team and liking them (or disliking them) cannot be a standard for assessing a person and citizen. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, he immediately pardoned the prison guards and prosecutors not because he was a kind person, but because it benefited the state. His goal was to establish a union of black and white South Africans. The future government of Armenia will face a similar challenge. You must try to fill the doom that came forth in different parts of our society with love, tolerance, and patience. This doom deepened throughout the 2.5 years of Nikol Pashinyan’s administration in order to improve his ratings. This is not an abstract issue. It is, after all, about national security.
And, therefore, do not begin your administration by pursuing the former regime through “throwing them against the asphalt” and shows of trials no matter how much society demands it. Do not seek revenge against Nikol Pashinyan. The majority of society gave the reigns of power to an incompetent person in 2018. By accepting the responsibility of that position, he greatly overestimated his abilities and, as they say, “he trampled the state.” That brought about a terrible tragedy, but that is not a crime. As far as I know, there is nothing in the Criminal Code against an incompetent government. If the next government tries to accuse Pashinyan and the members of his team of committing crimes (such as treason and other things), that will be a new demonstration of political revenge. And we will once again find ourselves in a cycle of hatred, and the new regime after that will try to instill hatred and get revenge against the new former regime. We have to stop at some point.
Aram Abrahamyan
