We will not allow the surrender of the Red Market behind the people's back: Arthur Khachatryan on the President of Artsakh's statement

Arthur Khachatryan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), addressed the issue of false patriots, stating that they should answer as well. These false patriots claimed that community leaders would form squads and head to Stepanakert. During an interview with NEWS.am, he commented on the statement made by the President of Artsakh on April 1, where he expressed a desire to question the false patriots about their whereabouts when the Red Market was in danger for more than 15 days, with the enemy attempting to seize it every moment.

“From the very first day of the war, we have been in Artsakh. We have had dozens of casualties in the 44-day war, so whoever the President refers to as false patriots should respond as well. Regarding the events at the Red Market, we find them extremely concerning, and in general, the events in Artsakh are alarming, which we have never hidden. We are also stating now that the veil of secrecy that they have shrouded around all events is deeply concerning for us, because we have bitter experience; the people were deceived for 44 days, and in the end, we ended up with what we currently have. The authorities in Armenia are trying to cover the events in Syunik with a veil of secrecy, and the authorities in Artsakh should not try to do the same with Artsakh,” Khachatryan emphasized.

“They and the Armenian authorities managed to remove the issue of Artsakh from the agenda of the Republic of Armenia, but we will not allow the surrender of the Red Market behind the people's back, just as they handed over Shushi, Karvachar, Kashatagh, and other liberated areas where the foot of the enemy never stepped, and now certain dishonorable individuals claim that these places are not Armenian,” the ARF member stated.

Khachatryan also discussed the recent changes to the Electoral Code proposed on April 1, which eliminated the proportional representation system and introduced a closed-party list system, making it more favorable for the authorities.

“It is clear that the Prime Minister and his political group are trying to do everything possible to gain an advantage over other political forces, just as he did in 2018, because only he knew the election date, while the others did not. This is another link in the chain of attempts to subjugate the judicial authority, appoint leaders in local self-government, and organize campaigns with state resources, as occurred when the Prime Minister announced the paving of roads in one of the villages. What is this, if not electoral bribery, which the opposition leader, Pashinyan, complained about, but the ruling Pashinyan decided to use this arsenal. The closed-party list system allows the Prime Minister to bring more loyal individuals into Parliament, whereas if it were a proportional system and someone garnered a significant number of votes, it would be much harder to say: write your application, and you won’t enter Parliament. In this case, he will gather a collection of more submissive aides,” Arthur Khachatryan stated.