During the 2021 election campaign, Pashinyan appeared with a hammer in hand, signaling that if re-elected, it would be used against all the “former officials,” “looters,” and “Russian stooges.” The pro-government electorate greeted that message with great enthusiasm, expecting that those people would end up either in prison or perhaps even facing execution.
The rhetoric ahead of the 2026 elections is much the same. The only difference is that these groups have now been joined by the Armenians of Artsakh, who were displaced to Armenia as a result of the ethnic cleansing carried out by Pashinyan’s friend Aliyev, as well as the so-called “parties of war.” That label is now attached to all critics of the government, who are no longer even treated as political opponents but are effectively portrayed as enemies of the state.
Once again, just as five years ago, society is being offered no positive goal to rally around. The authorities are not even setting modest, concrete objectives — for example, achieving visa liberalization with the EU in 2027, opening the Ajapnyak metro station in 2028, building a new nuclear power plant in 2029, or raising the minimum wage to 85,000 drams by 2030 (it currently stands at 75,000). In my view, these are the kinds of promises a government should be making during an election campaign. But none of this is being discussed.
Instead, the authorities continue to exploit people’s negative emotions with the message that all our internal enemies must be destroyed.
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In this climate of propaganda, it becomes very easy to justify large-scale repression against the opposition. If all of Pashinyan’s opponents are enemies of the state, then why bother with legal niceties?
The practices of wiretapping, arrests, mass roundups, threats, and blackmail will continue for at least another 30 days. When Pashinyan says, “I will not allow it,” that serves as an order to the law enforcement system under his control.
Macron and the EU have effectively endorsed these abuses in advance.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
