As soon as the preliminary results of Armenia’s parliamentary elections came out, showing current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s party winning a majority of seats, they immediately became the subject of political controversy in the Russian media.
Moscow views Pashinyan’s foreign positions calling for rapprochement with the West and joining the European Union negatively, and sees in them a sensitive geopolitical challenge that will have serious repercussions on what is known as Russia’s backyard in the South Caucasus.
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Vedomesti newspaper published that Pashinyan’s party was able to win the elections through a fierce electoral campaign and the use of administrative resources, accompanied by the arrests of hundreds of opposition activists and attempts to exclude the parties from the elections.
She pointed out that the support the ruling party received from Western countries had a clear impact on the results.
According to her, after the elections, Armenia risks falling into a geopolitical division between the West and Russia, and between the West and Iran, and falling into a political and economic impasse, the duration of which it is difficult to predict.
Money is victorious
Under this title, the Gazeta Ru website published a report on the election results in Armenia, and what the future holds for relations between Moscow and Yerevan.
The website quoted the director of the CIS Institute and State Duma representative, Konstantin Zatulin, as saying that the opposition was subjected to unchecked persecution, with ordinary citizens, clerics, and parliamentary candidates imprisoned, explaining that many Armenian citizens coming from Russia and other countries were prevented from casting their votes.
He claimed that the Armenian Ministry of Defense went so far as to pursue arrivals at the airport, demanding that those who are obligated to serve in the military immediately undergo training in the Armenian army.
Nikolai Silaev: The political persecution of opposition forces in Armenia will not end after the elections, and Pashinyan, after forming his government, will imprison everyone who he believes has deprived him of the constitutional majority.
The aim of this was to disrupt the voting process, considering that the election law in Armenia is illogical, as it does not allow citizens to vote from outside the country.
In a comment to the website, Nikolai Silaev, a senior researcher at the Caucasus and Regional Security Center at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said, “The political persecution of opposition forces in Armenia will not end after the elections, and Pashinyan, after forming his government, will imprison everyone who he believes has deprived him of the constitutional majority.”
As for the director of research at the Valdai International Dialogue Club, Fyodor Lukyanov, he stressed that it was important for Pashinyan to obtain a mandate to continue changing Armenia’s policy, but he did not achieve what he aspired to.
According to his opinion, Pashinyan was counting on an absolute constitutional majority in Parliament, which would not have given his party the freedom to act on any fundamental issues. But this was not achieved, so the struggle within Parliament will continue.
External interference
The newspaper “Expert” commented on the results of the elections in the former Soviet Republic by saying that if Armenia does not sink into a political crisis, and Nikol Pashinyan remains in his position as Prime Minister, the repression of the opposition will increase, and the country will diverge further from the Eurasian Economic Union and Russia.
According to the newspaper, the elections were held amid unprecedented pressure on the opposition and interference from the West.
According to her claim, the special Vigenome unit of French intelligence helped the Armenian authorities to block criticism directed at them on the Internet, as part of the agreement between Nikol Pashinyan and Emmanuel Macron.
International Affairs Analyst Gevorg Mirzayan: If people stay in their homes and the opposition does not show any resistance, it will be the decision of the Armenian community, and Russia will have to accept it
In addition, what I described as advocates of democracy in the European Union are ready to overlook all this, because it is extremely important for them that Pashinyan seeks to break away from the Eurasian Union and join the European Union.
It also considered that the result achieved by Nikol Pashinyan’s party is sufficient to give him the right to form a new government independently, but it is not sufficient to implement constitutional reform. However, constitutional reform is not a condition for joining the European Union, so Pashinyan faces no formal or legal obstacles to continuing his path toward rapprochement with Europe.
At the same time, the newspaper stressed that the Eurasian Economic Union has an opportunity to deprive Armenia of the important economic advantages it offers, but without excluding Armenia from the union, because the most important characteristic of the Eurasian Economic Union for Armenia is the Russian market, and not the markets of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, or Kazakhstan.
Break with Russia
The newspaper “Novyi Izvestia” saw that the most important question now is not only how to form the new government, but also whether Yerevan’s policy towards Russia, the Eurasian Economic Union, the CSTO and the European Union will change after the elections.
International affairs analyst, Gevorg Mirzayan, told the newspaper that what is important now is not only how the elections are conducted, but also the reactions to their results.
According to him, the opposition and Moscow are currently adopting a wait-and-see approach, and have not yet provided a final assessment of the results.
But he points out that if the Armenian community is willing to defend its votes in the streets, Armenia still has a chance to avoid a final break with Russia.
But if people stay in their homes and the opposition does not show any resistance, that will be the decision of Armenian society, and Russia will have to accept it.
Moreover, the spokesman explains that holding a referendum on Armenia’s European path is unlikely, as Pashinyan does not want such a vote, because any result would expose him to political and economic risks. In any case, separation from Russia will negatively affect Armenia.
