Vigen Khachatryan, member of the first convocation of the RA Supreme Council and the National Assembly and political scientist, answers the questions of “Ramgavar Mamoul”.
-How do you assess Mr. Pashinyan’s proposal yesterday to hold early elections? Can this be a way to bring the country out of the crisis?
I believe early elections are the only effective way to calm passions and guarantee the unity of society, because there will be an opportunity to conduct an election campaign; people will see who wants what, who is sincere and to what extent, who is right and to what extent; they will make their choice, and that question will finally leave the agenda—whether the government has the trust of society or not. I think it is the right path.
-Mr. Khachatryan, if the opposition sticks to its position and continues to demand elections without Pashinyan at the helm, can the Prime Minister keep power in his hands?
Of course, because those making that demand clearly do not enjoy the sympathy of the majority of society. Moreover, the majority of society knows them very well and knows that they are adventurers, and they have never had and do not have the trust of the majority of society. So that is not a problem; they are simply creating senseless, unnecessary tension, and I believe their “resistance” will be overcome.
-And what subtext can be seen in the President’s move when he refused to sign the Prime Minister’s decision sent to him to dismiss the Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Onnik Gasparyan, which further heightened the tension? Why did he take such a step, in your opinion?
I think the President has been misled, which is regrettable, because the President is not a collaborator of the Prime Minister or the opposition, but the guarantor of the Constitution, and any more or less educated person knows that the army had no right to make such a statement, and it was not the army that made it, but an organised insubordination. It was the President’s duty, as the guarantor of the Constitution, to immediately remove the Chief of the General Staff, who overstepped his authority and allowed himself an unconstitutional step. Why the President is under a misapprehension, one must ask him. Likewise, the President’s statement that early elections are needed after the war was an untimely statement that poured oil on the fire, which is unbecoming of the head of state—this is the President’s second misstep. But he has the opportunity to correct his mistake, because the Prime Minister, I believe, said in very clear language that this is not a personal matter; the General Staff committed a gross violation of the Constitution and has no right to interfere in internal political life. No matter how much they say they are not taking sides, that is simply taking a side, which is unacceptable.
-If elections are held, will new political forces emerge, or will today’s opposition share the lion’s share with the government?
I think that is somewhat difficult to predict today, but it is obvious that the composition of the parliament will change. It is obvious that the majority of society wants to see a more mature, more prepared political force in power, which unfortunately we do not have, and we have a choice between revanchists and the new, and I believe society will give preference to the new. And there are many bearers of the new, not only “My Step”, and we will have a more diverse parliament, oriented towards the future, rather than one living with old illusions.
“Ramgavar Mamoul”
