“When the government starts harassing the people, the opposition, the clergy… the reactions of the government representatives show that they are not adequate, they are in animal fear,” RPA Deputy Chairman Armen Ashotyan said at a May 4 press conference.
Civil Contract representative Vladimir Vardanyan told reporters that during the war the opposition did not help the government in any way, Armen Ashotyan countered, “To lie … are you not ashamed? He says the political forces that formed volunteer detachments have left, those who were drafted or volunteered, those who have announced that they are stopping the political struggle, stand by the state.” Touching upon the skepticism of the citizens and the expectations to see a program, Armen Ashotyan said that the opposition has visions and programs on how to solve various issues after the change of power. For example, in the Artsakh issue, after Nikol Pashinyan’s departure, the processes are frozen for several months, which will allow imagining the geopolitical developments and proposing approaches accordingly.
According to Armen Ashotyan, Nikol Pashinyan will take all the burden and responsibility of his promises, which he has given during this period, the new government will not keep the promises Nikol Pashinyan gave to the likes of Michel, Putin, and Aliyev, and it will pursue the reopening of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing. Nikol Pashinyan was interested in neutralizing it, “If Nikol leaves, the Artsakh issue will cease to be the subject of a geopolitical auction. The new government will not sell Artsakh in different capitals, at least it will protect itself and we know the ways in which it will do so. It is possible. The same with the Armenian-Turkish relations.
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That process is a consequence of the defeat of Karabakh, if we change Nikol, the whole logic of that process changes. Armenian-Turkish relations must be separated from the Artsakh settlement process.” Armen Ashotyan emphasized that it is unclear what the Armenian-Turkish talks led by Ruben Rubinyan are about. In any case, it is not clear from the official statements what the talks are about, so he states that the agenda of those talks is hidden. Touching upon the rumors about the opposition leader, Armen Ashotyan urged to stop looking for saviors, stating that it would not be possible to fight in the opposition, that there were clear agreements on forming an interim government, including specialists, then holding snap elections and fair competition. He considered the question of who will be the next prime minister a question of the future, as this movement is not a question of bringing anyone to power.
Armen Ashotyan also assured that this movement has no geopolitical owner, when the world sees that the Armenians have thrown the defeated leader in the trash, they will start counting with us again. Referring to the conventional attitude of foreign diplomatic institutions in Armenia, the speaker said that the result of their attitude is that Nikol Pashinyan uses brutal force against the people, that by their behavior, they give the “OK”, and they are accomplices to Nikol Pashinyan’s actions.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
