Pashinyan's departure would be a boon for Armenia

Revolutionary ferment in Armenia is intensifying, protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, “who surrendered the original Armenian lands to the enemy”, have become constant and numerous. The opposition, forgetting about squabbles and grievances, unites and nominates a single candidate for the post of head of government – leader of the “Movement to Save the Motherland” Vazgen Manukyan. Opponents of the government demand the formation of an interim government and early parliamentary elections. Former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan have joined the anti-Pashinyan campaign and are actively participating in it., belonging to the so-called “Karabakh clan”.

Even the military spoke out against the prime minister. A statement demanding his resignation was signed by the entire leadership of the General Staff. The last straw for the military was the dismissal by the Prime Minister of Deputy Chief of the General Staff Gasparyan. In their opinion, it contradicts the national and state interests of Armenia. “This decision is an anti-state and irresponsible step”, - said in the statement. It is also emphasized, that Pashinyan and his government are incapable of making adequate decisions in a crucial period for the republic.

Everything says that, that a consensus among elites has been reached in Armenia regarding the need for Pashinyan’s departure. The maneuver space for him is shrinking every day, but he's not going to give up yet. The prime minister's reaction to the statement of high-ranking military personnel was the dismissal of the head of the General Staff, and he qualified the statement itself as an “attempted coup”. Further, as usual, Pashinyan calls government supporters to the main square of Yerevan, in order to “defend the revolution”. By the way, In the camp of the prime minister’s supporters, not everyone agrees with his decisions either, that is, there is no need to talk about any absolute support.

What's next? In Armenia itself, many believe, that the best outcome for Pashinyan would be his flight from the country. But he himself categorically rejects such an opportunity.. There is an opinion, what is the fate of Pashinyan, how, however, and the situation in Armenia in general, can and will be decided in Moscow. Firstly, That's why, that the prime minister is a kind of guarantor of the implementation of the agreement on the return of the occupied territories to Azerbaijan, a, Secondly, because Moscow, of course, is not interested in creating a precedent for another change of power in the post-Soviet space through revolutionary means, as well as in the seizure of power by the military, unwilling to admit defeat in the war with Azerbaijan.

Absolutely obvious, that the current situation is a sad result of Pashinyan’s reign. And it's not so much that, that Armenia lost the war, and in that, that the politician who was striving for power had no state management skills or diplomatic inclinations. He simply did not know how to calculate risks, which may be encountered in foreign and domestic policy, becoming the first person of the state. Hence the main strategic mistake – focus on developing relations with the United States, not with Russia. Since coming to power in 2018 year, Pashinyan strongly advised his circle not to get too hung up on the opinion of Moscow, and the last one – adapt to the situation in Armenia after the “Velvet Revolution”. Pashinyan’s latest anti-Russian demarche can certainly be considered his criticism of the Russian Iskander OTRK, whose missiles, according to the prime minister, during the military escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh last fall, did not explode or “worked for 10 percent". And this is no longer just a slip of a short-sighted politician, and part of a deliberate policy to discredit Russia.

People in Armenia are disoriented. In fact, the country is now experiencing a period of anarchy and anarchy.. Decisions are made spontaneously and completely thoughtlessly. What could this situation ultimately lead to? – unpredictable, especially considering the army’s readiness to “open fire to kill”. The most logical solution seems to be the resignation of the prime minister., what, least, will reduce the degree of tension in Armenian society and return the army to the barracks.