The Sole Decision-Maker: "Haykakan Zham"

"Haykakan Zham" newspaper writes:  "Endless contradictions can be listed from the statements made by the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan. The past year was full of such statements; however, let's try to highlight a few of them. It is noteworthy that Pashinyan's misinformation and contradictory announcements were mainly associated with the previous government and economic indicators.

For instance, during the past year, the Prime Minister continued his claims that the previous authorities had already 'handed over' portions of Shurnukh, Vorotan, and Sotk under the 'Law on Administrative Territorial Division.' However, it should be emphasized that according to domestic laws, the external borders of the country cannot be determined, thus making Pashinyan's words another manipulation. Furthermore, economic manipulations have not been lacking from either him or other members of his team. For example, during the election campaign, the Prime Minister announced that he had managed to increase military expenditures by 48%, while the actual figure is about 26%.

Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power promising 'transparent, accountable, and open' governance, drastically reduced his social media activity and interactions with the media in 2021, almost stopping live broadcasts. He now conducts remote interviews, but does not respond to questions from all media outlets. Another point is that Nikol Pashinyan, who considers himself accountable and a Prime Minister to all, is now making decisions unilaterally—without consulting anyone—and does not hide this fact.

In particular, during yesterday's Q&A session with the National Assembly, Gegham Manukyan, a member of the 'Hayastan' faction, inquired how the decision was made to appoint Ruben Rubinyan as the envoy for Armenian-Turkish relations. In response, Pashinyan declared, 'The decision to grant Ruben Rubinyan that status was made by me based on political expediency. Ruben Rubinyan is accountable to me, the Security Council, and, essentially, to the people of Armenia.' It's good that at least he remembered the people at the end."