Pashinyan Remains the Most Discussed Political Figure: 'Media Defender'

From August 21 to 31, 2019, the 'Media Defender' initiative monitored articles regarding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's (Nikol Pashinyan / Նիկոլ Փաշինյան) persona and activities in the online press. According to the data presented on the Facebook page of 'Media Defender,' four news websites in Armenia were constantly monitored: aravot.am, azatutyun.am, armtimes.com, and lragir.am.

As a result of this ongoing monitoring, a total of 401 articles were recorded on the selected outlets, of which 30 were negative, 20 were positive, and 351 were neutral. Nikol Pashinyan continues to be the most covered political figure. During this ten-day period, the number of negative and positive articles is almost equal, but the negative publications are sharper in tone.

Recently, Vitaly Balasanyan, the former secretary of the Security Council of Artsakh, criticized Pashinyan's government: 'The 2018 parliamentary elections were illegal. All actions taken by Nikol Pashinyan are criminal offenses. The call against the courts has been not just an attempt to undermine constitutional order, as alleged by Robert Kocharyan, but a direct undermining of constitutional order. The time will come, and everyone will answer for it.' Balasanyan also addressed the organizations carrying out observational missions during the local elections in Artsakh, raising doubts as to why these organizations were chosen for financial support.

Former governor of Ararat region Hayrapet Babayan believes that Pashinyan's statements and actions do not correspond with each other: 'Now completely different types of statements are being made. There are also phenomena in actions that lead him towards a psychotic situation. Statements about a velvet, non-violent revolution, uniting Armenia, uniting the Armenian people, yet now we see a division of blacks and whites. Everything is being done to prevent society from uniting for the future of Armenia,' said Babayan.

Stanislav Tarasov also discussed the criminal case initiated against the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan. According to Tarasov, Moscow still fails to understand the actions against Kocharyan.

Regarding Amulsar, Pashinyan has faced criticism as well. Lragir.am published 133 articles, with 5 negative, 4 positive, and 124 neutral. The site addressed the possible reasons for Pashinyan's absence from the 29th international economic conference in Krynica-Zdrój, Poland. According to the media, there is a viewpoint that Pashinyan did not attend this conference because Vladimir Putin was not invited to Poland, thus showing solidarity with the Russian president. There was also a statement from the Armenian Construction Party welcoming Pashinyan's position regarding Amulsar.

Aravot.am published 121 articles, with 21 negative, 9 positive, and 91 neutral. Vitaly Balasanyan gave an interview to Aravot.am and, as mentioned, harshly criticized the authorities. Armen Ashtoyan also criticized Pashinyan, particularly regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to Ashtoyan, it seems that the latest negotiation documents have either not been read at all or have been read but not understood. The Amulsar issue was also addressed. Positive articles included insights from political technologist Vigen Hakobyan. According to him, 'It is difficult to say how the government perceives and assesses the situation, because, overall, one and a half years have shown that the concept of government and the phenomenon of Nikol Pashinyan are very different things. The whole government is quite an amorphous entity that does everything to do nothing and leave everything to Nikol Pashinyan’s decision. In other words, the government tries to avoid responsibility and leave it for Nikol Pashinyan.'

Armtimes.com published 97 articles, with 2 negative, 6 positive, and 89 neutral. A positive article highlighted that Pashinyan received a jersey signed by the players of Real Madrid as a gift. The Minister of Emergency Situations also noted that the meeting with Pashinyan was positive and expressed hope that wages for junior personnel of the Ministry would be significantly increased. A negative article highlighted the incident when the employees of the dissolved boarding schools could not communicate with the Prime Minister.

Azatutyun.am published 50 articles, with 2 negative, 1 positive, and 47 neutral. The site featured a conversation between former MP Aram Manukyan and a journalist. According to Manukyan, the revolutionary government lacks realism. A positive note was made regarding the approval of the state support program for the acquisition of housing or the construction of houses for military officers and subordinates.

The above indicates that currently, the government is facing challenges regarding previously made statements that contradict current actions. As for the issue of Amulsar, there is still no clear decision, and discussions are only complicating the situation.