Pashinyan says Armenians want to enjoy life, not struggle forever |

Harut Sasunian

www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last week continued to advocate a policy of appeasement toward Azerbaijan, suggesting that Armenians would rather enjoy life than engage in a never-ending struggle.

On June 23, in a speech to the leaders of his party, the Civic Contract, Pashinyan asked rhetorically: “Can we see the state as a means to achieve the happiness and well-being of the people, rather than a springboard, an outpost of some eternal struggle? … Is the Republic of Armenia an instrument of the eternal struggle, or is the Republic of Armenia an instrument of life?”

These were the beautiful promises Pashinyan made to his people when he came to power in 2018. He deceived the Armenian public by promising to bring them peace and higher incomes. We see now that after sacrificing thousands of soldiers, the entire territory of Artsakh and parts of the Republic of Armenia, he has brought nothing but death and suffering to the country. Contradicting his own criticism of previous regimes for increasing the national debt, he has more than doubled the debt by borrowing billions of dollars from international financial institutions, thus placing a heavy burden on future generations of Armenians.

Pashinyan’s only achievement is to create a luxurious life for his family, living in government residences, driving luxury cars, traveling around the world on luxury government aircraft, and staying in five-star hotels in capitals of various countries. In contrast, six years ago he still rode a bicycle to work.

In his June 23 speech, Pashinyan fabricated two non-existent “challenges and threats” facing the Armenian state. He said:

1) “We are told by some great and international powers: ‘…you are not really a living people; you are a suffering people. You must suffer, you must migrate, you must be slaughtered, you must struggle, and through all this you come to me to beg for salvation, and I must come to save you.'”

2) Pashinyan said the second challenge comes from “Azerbaijan, especially Azerbaijan, whose words, in a nutshell, are: ‘You didn’t let me live for 30 years, and I won’t let you live either, and I will take revenge on you.'”

The above two defeatist remarks by Pashinyan are the best evidence that he is not a competent leader and therefore he must resign immediately to avoid destroying his motherland.

First of all, no one in the world said that Armenians have to suffer. This is fake news. The only person Armenians need to get rid of is Pashinyan. If Armenians want to continue to exist as a country, they must replace Pashinyan as soon as possible with a more capable leader who can both defend Armenia’s interests and ensure a proper standard of living for the people. These two goals are not mutually exclusive.

Secondly, why did Pashinyan pretend to be the spokesman of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev? Every time Pashinyan opened his mouth, people clearly felt that Aliyev was not sitting in Baku, but sitting on the throne of Armenian Prime Minister in Yerevan! Azerbaijanis have not suffered for 30 years, they earn billions of dollars by exporting oil and gas to all parts of the world, build multiple skyscrapers in Baku, host large international events and conferences, and live a rich life. What is even more shocking is that since Pashinyan said that Aliyev was bent on revenge against Armenia, why did he beg Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty? Can a piece of paper dispel Aliyev’s idea of ​​revenge against Armenia?

As if these ridiculous statements were not enough, Pashinyan also talked about “why the ‘opposition movement’ led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan has declined”. In addition to discrediting senior clergy with shameless lies, Pashinyan and his associates constantly repeat the false idea that the opposition movement has failed. If the movement really failed, why does Pashinyan keep talking about it? The fact is that Pashinyan and his followers are very worried about the activities of the Archbishop and his numerous followers. The regime’s concerns are justified, because for the first time in six years, one person was able to unite the entire opposition under one umbrella, which no one has been able to do so far!

Pashinyan made these ridiculous statements only to prevent his party members from abandoning like rats from a sinking ship. It is well known that his followers in Parliament and the government will be very worried about their jobs and income if the opposition succeeds in overthrowing the government. Moreover, Pashinyan and his supporters are seriously afraid that they will be arrested and charged with corruption, abuse of power, violation of the laws of the Republic of Armenia and transfer of Artsakh and the territories of the Republic of Armenia to Azerbaijan.

In recent days, Archbishop Galstanyan has begun to go out of Yerevan and travel around the country to win supporters. The Archbishop must form opposition groups in all villages and cities across Armenia to expand the movement beyond Yerevan and make it cover the entire country. The second benefit of expanding the protests to the whole country is that it prevents Pashinyan from dispatching thousands of police officers from all over the country to Yerevan to suppress opposition protests. If protests occur simultaneously in all regions of Armenia on the same day, the police will be forced to stay in their local areas and will not be able to go to Yerevan in large numbers to crack down on the protesters.

Finally, since the opposition movement also has support from Armenians abroad, the Archbishop must appoint representatives of his movement in various countries, making it a pan-Armenian global movement, not limited to Yerevan or Armenia.