Pashinyan Responds to Levon Ter-Petrosyan

According to the newspaper "Hraparak", "Nikol Pashinyan, in a recent interview, also addressed the meeting of former presidents of Armenia and Artsakh under the auspices of the Catholicos, particularly focusing on the consolidation proposed by Ter-Petrosyan during that meeting. The journalist reminded that the first president suggested sharing responsibility for the document to be signed by the current prime minister, and then asked: 'How do you generally relate to the idea of consolidation? Are you ready to meet with former leaders, ready to present them with negotiation nuances, and, in general, do you think there is a need for consolidation between the former leaders and yourself?'

It is clear that these were pre-planned questions, and Nikol Pashinyan wanted to respond to this query, voicing his opinion on those meetings. Pashinyan gives a lengthy answer where he doesn’t make harsh judgments, yet it is clear that he has no desire to 'consolidate' with the former leaders, to seek their advice and support, or to share responsibility with them.

'You know, we need to understand what is meant because if there is such a context that the government is unable to take responsibility and needs help in taking responsibility, I can say that the government, myself, understands our responsibility for the fate of the country, and we are ready to take that responsibility which we have also received from our people,' said the favorite 'national disaster' of the first president.

This means that even in the most critical moments, this person has no desire for unification, to listen to anyone's advice, or to execute any sensible proposals. The enemy is at our doorstep, our youth are dying at the border, and he is literally sending Levon Ter-Petrosyan and the other former presidents away 'to the devil', stating that 'I do not need your assistance; I make decisions alone, and that’s it.' Whether the country will be destroyed as a result is a decision made by our people; they chose me.

We attempted to get comments from the associates of the three presidents to understand what they think about the format of the meetings of former presidents after this statement and whether those meetings could serve to provide advice to the country’s leader or, as Ter-Petrosyan says, to 'initiate a dialogue'. According to Artak Zakaryan, a member of the Republican Party and former Deputy Minister of Defense, Pashinyan’s reply was directed specifically at Levon Ter-Petrosyan, not the other presidents.

‘I think Nikol’s response was directed at Levon Ter-Petrosyan, saying that I do not need your support; I will sign whatever I want. He didn't say anything else because neither the second nor the third presidents seem to have expressed a desire for unification around him,’ he stated. When we asked about the purpose of the meeting of former presidents in that context, Zakaryan said, 'The purpose was to find solutions to the existing situation. And the situation is extremely dangerous and very concerning; we are either facing a new war and therefore the loss of statehood, or we are facing the loss of statehood without war, with Nikol’s signature. Hence, the current situation itself demands that some public expectations form around the format of the presidents' meetings. The idea of consolidation is that society needs to consolidate—without Nikol. Nikol has no role in that consolidation. In other words, the issue is not his consolidation.'

Agvan Vartanian, a member of the National Assembly from Robert Kocharyan's team, also commented that consolidation was not the purpose of those meetings, referring to Robert Kocharyan's remarks, 'As the second president stated, there can be no consolidation around a problem; consolidation occurs around a goal.'

We also tried to obtain comments from representatives of the first president, but they stubbornly refused to provide any comments. They stated that they were in a state of silence and would probably speak a couple of days later, mentioning that they would gather as a team after our call to discuss the situation. However, there was no need to wait two days. Likely, as a result of that meeting, it was decided to issue a statement through the spokesperson of the leader of the Armenian National Congress, Arman Musinyan, who noted on his page, 'It must be recorded that the necessity of the platform initiated by the Catholicos between the authorities and the opposition can be considered exhausted, which, however, in no way undermines the persistent efforts of the Catholicos, which, as evidenced by this response, have already yielded results. Incidentally, the first president also emphasizes that thanks to the Catholicos’s initiative, a significant event occurred; for the first time since 1998, a serious political debate was held in Armenia.'

This indicates that the first president is stepping away from the format of the presidents. Will the other presidents and the Catholicos continue the meetings, and what influence will Levon Ter-Petrosyan's statement have on their initiative? Yesterday, we were unable to clarify this. All those who could have commented on this matter declined to speak. The presidential offices stated that they had not discussed it yet, and aides referred to the offices. It was clear that everyone was caught by surprise. Although all sensible people understand that once again, the consolidation of former presidents is unlikely to happen, and this format is likely to be doomed by Levon Ter-Petrosyan.