“ACNIS ReView from Yerevan”. On February 12, 2025, during a question-and-answer session with the Government in the National Assembly of Armenia, Pashinyan made an extraordinary statement. However, it failed to receive proper attention, perhaps overshadowed by the more resonant geopolitical events of that February period. He declared: “I received power from the people, and I can return it only to the people. When the people come to the door, whether they knock or not, and say, ‘Give us our power back,’ I will hand it over to them. And I will not allow any group, regardless of its leader’s name, to seize the people’s power.” According to Pashinyan, power in Armenia belongs to the people. On the surface, it seems simple and light—”the unbearable lightness of being,” like taking a sip of water. But this perception is deceptive.
Many claim to speak on behalf of the people, whether rightfully or not. Walking down the street, you might overhear comments like, “How tired the people are of these deceptions!” or, “The time will come, and the people will have their say.” Others say, “Who even considers the people seriously?” or, “The people don’t want Nikol.” Such statements, though common, can often be dismissed as everyday chatter. Far more concerning are the manipulative invocations of the people’s will by officials seeking to advance their own parochial or personal interests. Pashinyan’s statement, though seemingly harmless, falls into this dangerous category.
History reminds us that some of the world’s greatest illegalities and crimes have been committed in the name of “the people.” Take Maximilien Robespierre, a key yet controversial figure of the French Revolution, and Madame Tussaud, renowned for her waxwork museum in London. During the Reign of Terror (1780–1789), Tussaud honed her craft making death masks from heads delivered by the guillotine—a grim and bloody apprenticeship. Consider also the atrocities of the Russian Cheka (the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage), which carried out mass arrests, imprisonments, torture, and executions during the “Red Terror,” or the horrifying acts of the Khmer Rouge under Cambodia’s dictator Pol Pot, whose teenage killers committed political atrocities. More recently, we might even recall the immense destructions —both human and material—caused by the so-called “velvet My Step movement, “which emerged from the streets in 2018. Perhaps the Grand Inquisition was more honest—it acted in the name of God, not the people.
In reality, the people rarely make decisions, even during elections and revolutions. Instead, they are often used as instruments within elaborate frameworks of conspiracy, propaganda, and political technology to legitimize processes pre-designed by those in power. And when the people fail to be “properly inspired” to align with the superior’s desires, they are conveniently blamed. Power, at its core, is about safeguarding the interests of those who wield it. This became evident during the campaign to remove “old members” of the Constitutional Court and replace them with Pashinyan’s favored candidates.
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In 2019–2020, to justify these arbitrary actions—centered on Hrayr Tovmasyan, who had been appointed Chairman of the Constitutional Court a year and a half earlier—an absurd notion was propagated: “The Constitutional Court issue will be resolved by the people of Armenia, the proud citizens of the Republic, because the Constitution exists for the people, not the people for the Constitution.” This rhetoric echoed Pashinyan’s earlier statements during a rally on August 17, 2018, where he proclaimed: “If, as a result of the Karabagh negotiation process, there is an option for settlement that I personally consider to be a good one, let no one think that I will sign any confidential paper or take any secret action.”
“If I see that there is an option that really needs discussing, I will come, stand here and present to you all the details, after which you decide whether to accept that settlement option or not. If you decide to do it, we will do it. If you decide that we don’t, we will not do it. You are the supreme authority and you will have the final say. There can be no doubt,” he promised in a solemn pledge before tens of thousands of citizens, receiving thunderous applause. Nevertheless Pashinyan broke that promise. Both the November 9, 2020 trilateral capitulation document (the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement) and the October 6, 2022 Prague Conspiracy Act—the latter surrendering Artsakh to Azerbaijan were signed behind the people’s backs.
Thus, when someone claims to speak on behalf of the people, it is wise to remain skeptical. More often than not, such declarations serve ulterior motives. And if you encounter such rhetoric, perhaps it’s time to “beat them off with a stick.” Rest assured, the people will understand.
The Armenian Center for National and International Studies