Pashinyan's Appetite is Gradually Widening: Mikael Minasian

Mikael Minasian, the former ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See, has published an article in today's edition of the newspaper "Hraparak". We present Ambassador Minasian's authored article in full, without cuts:

"Today, the first figure of Armenia is a person who governs the state without any conventional principles, rules, or accountability. And gradually, his appetite is widening, while his political aspirations approach authoritarianism.

Nikol Pashinyan governs the country just as he once managed the newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak". And we are not talking about classical journalism; we are talking precisely about tabloid journalism. Nothing has changed in his governing style and principles. He has simply moved the editorial microclimate to a larger geographical area. Now we all live in the 'Haykakan Zhamanak' country, which has a 24-hour rhythm and memory; as much as from one newspaper issue to the next.

The society has also been divided into three parts: journalists, readers, and those who do not read the paper.

Just as during his time as an editor, Nikol Pashinyan does not want and does not intend to take any responsibility or share responsibility. His super goal is the delivery of popular and populist acts (notice, not decisions). But the drama does not end there. The problem is that not only Nikol Pashinyan lives with a 24-hour newspaper logic and mood but also a significant portion of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, who likewise do not share responsibility with Pashinyan, live in Pashinyan's mythologized world, reading Pashinyan's content in the morning, determining whom to praise and whom to vilify. This goes on until the next morning.

And there is no connection to be had that the hero of the previous issue is now the anti-hero in the new issue. That is the allure of the 24-hour rhythm. Every morning, you reset everything. And everything and everyone has a 24-hour expiration date. You'll either render it expired the next morning or extend it, depending on expediency.

Pashinyan continues to govern the country with the same agenda where each day must consist of several important informational genres:

• Daily revelation: It must include the arrest of any corrupt former official with the most impressive possible sum of stolen or looted money. It does not matter whether it is true or false, whether the fact of theft or the amount may not be substantiated, whether the detention may not be justified, whether the money is returned or not, or in what options and to whom it is returned. It simply needs to be ensured in the daily news, and that’s it.
• Daily selfie: With someone every day. On Saturday evening – with Serj Tankian, on Sunday - with Kim Kardashian, on Monday - with Alexis Ohanian, on Tuesday - at least with Tigran Mansuryan if there is no other interesting person. But the selfie is mandatory; it doesn't matter what was said before or after, how useful the leader’s spent time was, or what benefit it brought to the country. These are completely unnecessary and irrelevant questions.
• Daily festival: The news should not lack gathering events - ring festivals, walnut, shoe, wine, toast, qavurma, lavash, drone, hard-drive, etc. It is crucial for people to believe there is movement in the country. And it should not be deeply analyzed whether any contracts are signed after these festivals or whether new export prospects open, new investors come, new jobs are created. These are completely unnecessary and irrelevant questions.
• Daily hero: Here lies a nuance. In the Haykakan Zhamanak country, the heroes are always the same - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his wife. But permanent heroes must bless daily 'little heroes' to perpetuate their grandeur continuously. Fine, ordinary, hardworking people - small entrepreneurs, modest farmers, and startups - become the day’s 'blessed' heroes involuntarily, to testify to the immortality of the supreme heroes. They can enjoy this status for 24 hours.
• Daily number: There should always be discussion about growth. The tourism alpine sub-sector has grown by 10 percent. It does not matter whether two different time periods are chosen, the methodological errors, or entirely out-of-context figures. The important thing is the positive and impressive number so that the citizens of 'Yerkir-HP' share with pride online.
• Daily hindrance: There should always be an anti-hero or anti-phenomenon that prevents progress. 'Until there is a new parliament, there will be no investments.' And in that logic, until there are new regional governors, until the judiciary system changes, until Hrayr Tovmasyan resigns. Soon, until Russia has a new president: in 'Yerkir-HP', finding logic between living well and the above phenomena is prohibited. That does not matter. The important thing is identifying and publicizing the 24-hour hindrance.

And precisely with this logic and 24-hour chain, Nikol Pashinyan today governs the country without any rationality or consistency. Because when he is reminded of what he said or did the previous day, month, or year, he does not sincerely understand why. After all, a new day has begun. A new edition of the country 'Haykakan Zhamanak' is out already.

How do we relate to Russia now? The day knows. We wait nervously for Putin, then offend him by not greeting him, then rage over a meeting at the Russian embassy, but we end the day with warm hugs at the airport. Content? Zero. And the next day's question is whether we are good with Russia or bad. It no longer matters. A new day has started. A new guest has arrived.

The greatest drama in the country-'Haykakan Zhamanak' is that the state, in fact, has neither a strategy nor a goal. One constant exists: Nikol Pashinyan has always been the editor of 'HP', now he is the prime minister of 'Yerkir-HP'. And what will happen to the country afterward? There is no answer to that question.

Interestingly, when Nikol Pashinyan cannot solve a problem within the 24-hour cycle, then it does not interest him. Also, the 'reader'. Regarding the Amulsar issue, he has changed his position several times. Several times. And again, with the 24-hour logic, he has said different things on different days, based on the current reactions on social media: and do not ask what happened to Amulsar after all this. Nothing. If it is not in the news of 'Yerkir-HP', then such a problem does not exist. Until it reappears in the next 24-hour cycle. Then a new decision will be published, a new culprit will be appointed, and a new target will be declared based on the day’s expediency.

Nikol Pashinyan tried to resolve the issue of Artsakh with a 24-hour cycle by repeatedly demanding the return of Artsakh to the negotiating table. And do not ask whether you insist on Stepanakert's participation or not. After all, that was a statement from a year ago. What does it matter what was asserted? What is important is what is said now. And if there is a contradiction, then you misunderstood.

Or he may assert: 'Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s final.' A good headline, great response, a good call for a rally. What do the consequences matter? If necessary, he can deny it on the last page.

This is not merely Nikol Pashinyan's constructed country. This is an agreement to have such a country imposed on people, by playing with their emotions and likewise forcefully presenting the 24-hour cycle. And it is not acceptable to question how Arthur Davtyan, the chief prosecutor, who has been accused of letting ‘Sasna Tsrer’ go, is the best prosecutor today. That is how the matter stands. Perhaps for the next week too.

In 'Yerkir-Haykakan Zhamanak', there is no law. There is the political line of the chief editor and prime minister and the day’s decisions. If there is a law obstructing it, then it must be changed. There should not be legal logic. Do they think that Mher Yeghiazaryan should be imprisoned even if he dies, then everything else does not matter? Is it thought that Hrayr Tovmasyan should resign, then all the proteges must be arrested? Do they think this or that decision must be made by the court? Then the judge who issues a contrary decision must have a criminal case opened against them.

One fundamental truth should be remembered about this government: Nikol Pashinyan has no past or future. He lives only in the present. He is not interested in what he has said, nor is he concerned about what will happen. What matters is what is occurring today.

In 'Yerkir-HP', all officials are journalists – the prosecutor, the minister, the regional governor. After all, the most successful minister is considered to be the one most covered and having the most online attention. There is no government. It is an ordinary editorial office that must ensure the ambitions of one person, the day’s program, and, of course, the adulation.

In the meantime, the cult of personality is smoothly being consolidated, as the leader's book is published, then staged, and then his handwritten poem becomes a poster, statues are erected, hats, watches, comics, liquor are released, and in online communities, wombs are blessed, sexual organs are adored.

And as is the case with all dictatorships, it is created around a new god. That is why all old religions are being abolished. And it is precisely in this respect that from the very first day, the Armenian Apostolic Church has been obstructing, and very soon all others' believers will too. That is why the attacks against the church do not cease. And they never will, as long as Nikol Pashinyan's power exists.

No dictatorship exists without the support of the working-peasant layer and intellectualism. Today, our intellectuals applaud Nikol Pashinyan, because the majority fear him, some believe in him, and a small part openly opposes him. As a result, the pro-Western progressives, the workers, farmers, and intellectuals have created a new pasha with eastern traditions and western design.

Our new pasha, by the way, is a classic dictator who has never shied away from blood. Just as he instigated bloodshed on March 1, he ordered special forces to smash people in their homes in Ijevan. Nikol Pashinyan reacted with particular cruelty to Ijevan, to show everyone his power.

All this is exceedingly logical. Both the developments are logical and the expected consequences. Today, Nikol Pashinyan has understood that his greatest enemy is neither the Republican Party, nor Kocharyan, nor any country or individual entity. His greatest enemy is reality. When 'Yerkir-HP' collides with reality, a crisis begins; people's eyes open. People will see that under this government, nothing has happened, nothing has changed, and no significant decision has been made regarding important issues. The country has squandered resources with a 24-hour devastating cycle, jeopardizing its physical existence and creating serious problems for the coming not just months but decades.

And everyone will stand. Because people become citizens and the nation becomes a state when they fight against the dictatorship that is forming within them. When they realize that a dictatorship, even the best, cannot become a guarantee of development, prosperity, and security, when they understand that the populist, no matter how convincing he may seem, will never transition from words into action, and is capable of nothing other than likes and selfies.

Capable of belittling world leaders for the sake of one international selfie, while not being held accountable for the consequences of that one selfie.

When the consequences gradually start to make themselves felt, when people see the populism of the dictatorship, then they will become citizens and will fight for democracy. But until then, every day, at 9 am, we are destined to live in Yerkir-'Haykakan Zhamanak', where the editor-in-chief-prime minister must determine, according to the day’s yellow agenda, whom to arrest, whom to disgrace, what to take pride in, and whom to take a selfie with."

More details in today’s issue of the newspaper.