Expert rules out Armenia power change due to protests

Aravot newspaper editor-in-chief Aram Abrahamyan has ruled out any power change in Armenia as a result of the ongoing protests.

The editor made the remarks in his article headlined "These demonstrations will not lead to power change", Caliber.Az reports.

"We can say that people are influenced by the propaganda of the Public Television. But to this argument, I can answer that the Public Television similarly highlighted the activities of [former Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan and his team in a greatly positive way, but no one believed this. Moreover, at the time of the previous leadership, there were no opposition-leaning TV channels [in Armenia], but now there are. So propaganda has nothing to do with it. Why the majority of Armenians love the failed leader who lost the [second Karabakh] war, we will scrutinize for a long time. But the demonstrators who organize street protests must be aware of reality, and not live in the illusion that 'the people have woken up'. Citizens also ask me, 'Nikol won't let these come back, will he?' To be honest, I do not undertake the task of reassuring or, conversely, disappointing anyone. But I really think that these protests will not lead to a change of power," Abrahamyan wrote.

"No offence to the esteemed oppositionists, but the people I meet on the street mostly complain about the protesters, and some call them 'Kocharyan followers'. Today, a woman, expressing the same displeasure, told me that she prays every day for Pashinyan, so that God would give him the wisdom to get the country out of this situation," he wrote.

The editor noted that this is not a sociological poll, and underlined the impossibility of the fact that for 30 years he has met specially selected people that have some kind of directed viewpoint.

"I believe she prayed before as well, but her prayers clearly did not help, since the current prime minister has already brought the country to such a situation. In general, I can state that until 2018, the citizens I met on the street cursed the leaders of Armenia, I remember one of the taxi drivers even refused to take me to Northern Avenue [in Yerevan], saying: 'I respect you greatly, but I wouldn't drive in the brothel of these Karabakh people.' And now the attitude towards Pashinyan, leastwise, as far as I know, is positive, and the most bitter thing I have ever heard is the phrase 'what could a helpless guy do?'," Abrahamyan wrote.

 However, according to him, this does not mean at all that Pashinyan's rule is eternal.

"A change of power can occur when no one needs the current prime minister, neither the West nor Russia (obviously, both are needed now, so they support him from all sides). Pashinyan will no longer be needed when he takes the steps that are expected of him in relations with Azerbaijan and Turkiye. This, I'm worried, would put Armenia in a worse position than today. And then the erring people will understand that they made a mistake," he said.