The Prime Minister Who Used to Frequently Engage with People Has Disappeared

The newspaper 'Irates' writes: 'Not long ago, when criticizing the government, former opposition figures would say that the connection between the authorities and the people had been severed, and that the officials only observed problems from the windows of their expensive cars. Today, it turns out that not much has changed, but that connection now exists only in the virtual realm, meaning that the people have become a Facebook community (and even then, quite selectively: those with white backgrounds are ours, while the ones with black are enemies of the nation). Regarding expensive cars, everything remains the same.

The Prime Minister, who used to ride a bicycle and frequently interact with people, has faded away. He is now commuting in a $300,000 vehicle, living in a state residence renovated at the cost of $2 million, and receiving a significantly raised salary (by secret decision). According to numbers provided by the Statistical Committee, he continues to feed the public with information.

Another 'cooked-up report' was published yesterday. On his Facebook page, Pashinyan wrote: 'I am pleased to note that since the second quarter of 2019, we have seen a significant decrease in unemployment. If in the second quarter of 2018 the number of unemployed was 236,400, then in the second quarter of 2019, the number has decreased to 207,200, dropping by 29,200 individuals. Currently, the unemployment rate in our country is 17.7%, which indicates that compared to the same period last year, the total unemployment has decreased by 2.5%.'

One does not need to be an economist to understand that the number of unemployed cannot decrease without new job openings and investments. The simple formula is: investment creates jobs; if there is none, there cannot be the other. So, what numbers is Nikol Pashinyan discussing?

Incidentally, at one point, a similarly 'shocking' figure regarding jobs was presented to the public, and it later became clear that it was not new workers who had been added, but merely existing ones who had come out from the shadows. Now, Pashinyan is presenting manipulated figures that do not exist in reality.

Wouldn't it be more honest to say that this many people have come out of the shadows and are considered legal workers? One more point: announcements about reducing unemployment through the cuts in the state apparatus are at least absurd. Consequently, the indicators presented by the authorities, who follow the situation of the country from their Facebook window, are only convincing on paper; they have not changed anything in people's lives.'

For more details, please refer to today's edition of the newspaper.