Why does Nikol Pashinyan want the opposition to go public?

“From a political point of view, the cries about filling the squares are very similar to a civil war, at the very least, the intention to provoke clashes (such as the March 1, 2008 shooting), which are extremely dangerous for a state that has security problems and is still recovering from defeats.” The interlocutor of “Aravot” is the vice-chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia Narine Dilbaryan.

– “The elections were rigged and are these seats empty?” And this issue is not discussed in the parliament of the republic? The elections were rigged and the republic’s squares are empty? The votes of your followers have been faked: are you sitting up at home, eating kebabs? Weren’t we in the opposition that the votes were falsified? Were we at the airports collecting the suitcases the next day? Nikol Pashinyan used to mock the opposition leaders. It’s sad, but Nikol Pashinyan is right in one matter: at the time, on the night of the 8th of the month, when he and his government were falsifying votes, shouldn’t the opposition leaders have been on the street? Do you have any explanation for this incomprehensible post-election situation?

– The above speech of Nikol Pashinyan can be evaluated from 3 points of view. a) legal, in this sense, they are absolutely provocative and conflict-inducing formulations. To the legal practices of the opposition: to collect cases of election violations and election fraud, to apply to the CEC and the administrative court with a package of them in the hope of conducting recounts and the resulting re-voting, and then, after not receiving a proper response to the applications, to prepare to apply to the Supreme Court to annul the election results, the person holding the position of the RA Prime Minister responds with cries that “you are lying at home… We weren’t in the opposition?” as if you voters fill the squares, but the results of the elections are not legally determined in the squares, but in the courts by force of law, and the prime minister must be very well informed about it, b) from a political science point of view, the cries about filling the squares are very similar to a civil war, at the very least, the intention to provoke clashes (such as the March 1, 2008 sniper attack), which are extremely dangerous. for a state with security problems, still recovering from defeats, and c) such reactions from a human psychological point of view testify to the author’s unbalanced emotional state with outbursts of anxiety and anger. Based on these records, I think that there is no need to be guided by Pashinyan’s “suggestions”, the opponents of CP programs should be guided by their agenda: Armenian, pro-state and constitutional. I want to note the reasonable, balanced statement of the leader of the “Strong Armenia” alliance, Samvel Karapetyan, about the process of consolidating the opposition forces, with a coordinating council and an effective agenda for implementing program actions.

– Yesterday, from the podium of the parliament, Nikol Pashinyan actually accused not only the opposition leaders, but the 500,000 citizens who voted for the opposition, of provoking a war with Azerbaijan with their position. He said that the meeting between Armen Grigoryan and Hikmed Hajiyev in Dilijan was to prevent that war. This is not even a joke, it is even difficult to describe what it is. What do you see hidden under this?

– Under such threats-accusations is simple impotence, awareness of possible failure. N. Pashinyan had already understood at the dawn of June 8 that the majority of RA citizens reject the eternal defeat and subordination of national interests, the CP plan to turn the ideology of foreign citizenship into the basis of security and peace of the state. For the majority of the society, the Artsakh struggle will continue, the struggle for the freedom of Armenian prisoners from Baku prisons has no alternative, Ararat is a sacred Armenian mountain, the genocidals must be condemned in international courts, the sovereign, democratic state of Armenia pursuing the rights and historical truth of its citizens is the only guarantee of our security, and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church is our unshakable spiritual foundation. After June 7, it becomes clear that you cannot scare the majority of the Armenian people with the Damocles sword of war, we need real peace, which Armen Grigoryan and his team can never bring, unfortunately we have already seen what they brought. And the most important thing is that there is no need to constantly remind Azerbaijanis about the war against Armenia, the supposed logic of “the majority did not choose us, come, get there” is not serious.

– Some analysts are predicting early elections, some oppositionists are happy, they claim that the CP members have a “panikhida” face, and the CP members are talking, singing, dancing, clapping. In your opinion, will we have an emergency election or are we doomed to spend the next five years with the CP?

– No, we are not condemned, the hour of sobriety has come, it doesn’t matter who was happy, who was overcome with special moods. The important thing is that the RA citizen wants to live in a safe and sovereign country that does not become a conflict between geopolitical centers, conducts balancing diplomacy, which is the defender of the rights of its compatriots in all platforms, whose leaders should be professional and self-sacrificing figures, law-abiding and responsible. I am sure that in the end, the government will change in Armenia with free, fair elections that meet international standards.

– It is noteworthy, but even after the publication of the official results of the elections, the Russian President still did not congratulate Nikol Pashinyan, contrary to expectations, and the Russian and Turkish Foreign Ministers also discussed the fate of Armenia during their last meeting.

– Honestly, I don’t consider it very important whether to congratulate or not. It is obvious that Azerbaijan and Turkey support Pashinyan’s party, their direction, and Russia is trying to understand whether the status quo of the Turkish-Azerbaijani victory campaign has been finally established or not. If he is convinced, he will congratulate, the Russian-Turkish-Azerbaijani relations are developing in a positive way, because these two states do not position themselves as pathologically anti-Russian, but conduct a balanced policy in favor of their national interests, in contrast to KP Armenia, which has turned its foreign policy into a bargaining chip with foreign states to the detriment of its direct interests.

Interview by Nelly GRIGORIAN

“Aravot” daily newspaper
19.06.2026