If the opposition’s true goal is to remove Pashinyan from power, the approach must be pragmatic and unemotional. Old grievances, personal ambitions, and past mistakes must be set aside. If the conversation devolves into “Where were you in such-and-such year?”—then Pashinyan will remain in power.
Of course, this is not about, say, the Sasna Tsrer joining forces with the Dashnaktsutyun to present a united front. But if those with oppositional views recognize that a particular individual or group is capable of removing Pashinyan, they should support that person or group—regardless of ideological or personal differences.
This is not a matter of personalities, ideologies, or anyone’s political path. The issue—without exaggeration—is the very existence of the Armenian state. A leader defeated in war, scorned and humiliated by the enemy, forced to yield to every whim of that enemy, and lacking credibility in any geopolitical center, simply cannot preserve our statehood—even if he is, in all other respects, intelligent, honest, and well-meaning.
We are now facing an existential crisis, and what someone said to whom back in 2018 may be an amusing anecdote, but it has no practical relevance today.
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If Robert Kocharyan and his team can remove Pashinyan, let them do so. But they tried in 2021 and failed. Has Kocharyan gained any additional political capital in the past four years? Has his “chemistry” with Putin improved? Frankly, I didn’t get that impression from the second president’s most recent press conference.
Going into another election framed as a “Pashinyan vs. Kocharyan” showdown is risky. If Pashinyan wins again, the decline will continue until at least 2031—while Aliyev and Erdoğan will keep tightening the screws on a defeated prime minister. If they succeed, for example, in resettling 300,000 Azerbaijanis in Armenia or cutting off our country’s vital routes through the so-called “enclaves,” that will mark the end of Armenian statehood.
This is not a tale like The Death of Kikos—it is a very real and entirely plausible scenario. Whoever is capable of stopping this process must be supported by the opposition.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
