Winning Does Not Necessarily Mean Shooting: Bagratyan Reflects on Pashinyan's Statement, Reminds of Nzhdeh

“To win, it is not necessary to defeat.” We interpret all expressions literally. This means, I should not fight you to win, but rather improve myself and enhance my intellectual capabilities. By doing so, I will win over you, not by boxing you. You must understand this literally: to win does not necessarily mean to shoot or to kill someone,” said Sergei Bagratyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract party, during a conversation with journalists today. He commented on Prime Minister Pashinyan's statement at an event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of independence, where he used the now-famous phrase, “history has shown that to win, it is not always necessary, sometimes it is even not required to defeat others.”

Although Bagratyan noted that he hasn’t asked Pashinyan for clarification on his statement, he elaborated further that Pashinyan spoke about strengthening the state. “I didn’t ask for clarification, but if I am not mistaken, it was Nzhdeh who said: to defeat your enemy, you must have a powerful statehood right under their noses,” stated the former Prosperous Armenia member and current Civil Contract deputy.