VIDEO: Do you have the courage now to take responsibility and withdraw? Question to the Prime Minister

During a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in Munich and surrounding areas, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was asked whether he has the courage to resign and completely exit the political arena following the losses in Artsakh and numerous failures.

“You have been governing for six years, and from the very beginning of your leadership, you took on all responsibility for the Artsakh negotiations. Whatever is supposed to be negotiated is being done, Artsakh is Armenia, period. As a result, we have territorial and human losses, a defeated nation's defeated prime minister. Since 2020, you’ve had another opportunity to govern and promised to protect the rights and security of Armenians in Artsakh, despite the government program stating the right to self-determination. Let’s acknowledge that your political approach has also failed; the defeated prime minister of a defeated country declared an era of peace and we experienced territorial losses from Armenia. You recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, leading to complete depopulation and a national disaster. Now we have a non-legitimate authority, a non-legitimate prime minister after the loss of the Second Republic, military escalations, and corruption scandals. Mr. Pashinyan, all these failures occurred during your administration. You may offer various excuses, but the fact remains a fact. Previously, I used to say that something is not working out for you; now I assert that nothing is working out for you. Do you have the courage now to take responsibility upon yourself, as you stated, that you are the number one responsible person, and step down? By 'step down,' I don’t mean just resign but rather to completely leave the political field because Armenia is currently placed on the altar,” inquired a representative of the Armenian community.

Nikol Pashinyan responded that there are many political forces demanding his departure, but they received their mandate from the people. “But we can’t do that for a simple reason: we received power, a mandate from the people, and if we simply leave, whom are we leaving that mandate to?” said the Prime Minister, noting that they have returned that mandate twice and received it again.

Pashinyan indicated that their current task is to concentrate on statehood rather than pursuing the endless vision of a lost homeland.

“Why am I saying and doing all this? Is it because I am a traitor, or an agent of foreign powers dreaming about giving away any land? Of course, some might think that way, but I do this for one reason: I understand that if we continue on the path that I have partially taken, then we will lose our homeland,” said the Prime Minister.

The Armenian community representative commented again that Pashinyan did not receive a mandate to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, stating that the public did not elect him for that reason: “If you went to elections and said that you would recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, how many people would have voted for you?”

For more details, watch the video.