Prime Minister Pashinyan could not hold a press conference. Even without the press conference, everything is “clear.” If there is something terrible in Armenia, then the “formers” and the Russians are to blame. It is a common thing in politics. A false thesis is only viable as long as most citizens believe it. In the case of Armenia, it is precisely like that.
Pashinyan is trusted by the majority, which ensures not only his legality but also his legitimacy. If it were not like that, more than a few thousand people would have gathered at the opposition rallies. As soon as the prime minister loses his public legitimacy (and such a thing is not excluded at all), it will not remain a secret from us; it will be seen both from the behavior of the political elite and public sentiments.
As absurd as these myths are, there is nothing extraordinary about them. I see the problem elsewhere when the army is included in that rhetoric of self-justification. Here is a quote from yesterday’s press conference. “We lost the war because the 5th column operated in our army. These facts will soon be so public that my statement will not seem as strange as it looks now.
Over 50 former servicemen of the armed forces, including high-ranking officers, are accused of espionage and treason. I don’t know if there is a person in Armenia who thinks that the cases were made up”. First, even if we do not question the “unmade” nature of these cases, it does not explain the defeat in the war at all. In the Second World War, there were thousands of spies and traitors in the Soviet, British, and American armies, but this did not prevent those armies from winning.
But the most important thing is not even that. To say something like this at the moment when the enemy is going to attack you (Pashinyan himself mentioned this) means to send a clear message to the army, the military: no matter how you fight, no matter what you do, in case of failure, the head of state will not be to blame, but you. It doesn’t add to the motivation to fight.
In addition, if the head of the state says that he led a State in which there was a “5th column” in the armed forces, then what should follow it…?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
