The Fourth Republic Has Existed for 7 Years and Has Brought Us Only Defeat and the Destruction of Artsakh: Levon Zurabyan

In declaring the "Fourth Republic," Nikol Pashinyan is once again taking a nonsensical step of ignorance and empty talk. This was stated by the deputy chairman of the Heritage Party, Levon Zurabyan, on his Facebook page.

“In general, the tradition of numbering historical republics was established by the French, distinguishing the following periods of republican (non-monarchical) governance in France's history:

1. First Republic (1792-1804), which was born as a result of the French Revolution and ended when Napoleon declared the First Empire.
2. Second Republic (1848-1952), which emerged after the revolution against monarchy and ended when Napoleon’s cousin, Louis, declared the Second Empire.
3. Third Republic (1870-1940), which was created when Louis Napoleon's empire fell under the blows of Prussia and ended as a result of defeat from Nazi Germany.
4. Fourth Republic (1946-1959) was established when France was liberated from German occupation.
5. Fifth Republic (1958-present) was established when France changed its form of republican governance from parliamentary to semi-presidential.

Thus, according to the presented tradition, the numbering of republics changes if the creation of the new republic is preceded by a) a non-republican governance period (1st, 2nd, 3rd republics), b) an occupation period (4th republic), c) a different model of constitutional governance.

Based on these specific criteria, in Armenia, the Fourth Republic was created in 2018 when the transition from the semi-presidential governance system to the parliamentary governance system was made. This transition was carried out by Serzh Sargsyan, but he was unable to continue his governance under the new system.

The Fourth Republic has had only one ruler — Nikol Pashinyan, who has been leading this new governance model for eight years now. The Fourth Republic thus has existed for 7 years, and it has brought us only defeat, the destruction of Artsakh, human and territorial losses, and degradation.

“The declaration of the Fourth Republic” by Nikol Pashinyan is merely an attempt to erase from public consciousness the responsibility and guilt that he and his led Civil Contract party bear for the disasters brought upon our people. Our goal should be to remove Pashinyan and implement constitutional reforms that will restore and revitalize Armenian statehood.”