Following the political developments and listening to the famous instruction of the third President of the Republic of Armenia, I took a long break from writing, which made the main events even more noticeable. Nikolinism, raging on the ground, is not limited to the “territory” of Pashinyan’s team, but is consistently infecting a wider circle – from Brussels to some of our opposition partners.
Let’s start with Brussels.
Last week, the ruling party of Europe, the EPP, of which we are also an observer, adopted a resolution on Pashinyan’s Armenia, the original version of which was simply ridiculous, and the adopted version, as a phenomenon, is simply unpleasant.
The Republican Party reacted dryly to this phenomenon, also protecting the mother party from the further spread of the Nicholas virus. It was predictable that the government circles, being extremely dissatisfied with the final text of the document, in particular, the re-registration of my status as a political prisoner and the emphasis on the right of Artsakh Armenians to return, tried to manipulate this text with a manipulative version.
But it turns out that there were few pro-Russian media outlets, and some media outlets serving the second President of the Republic of Armenia, which also have an openly pro-Russian image, gave impetus to the slander campaign against the Republican Party. It is unnecessary to remind that during the years of our membership, the EPP has always supported the Armenian agenda: the Artsakh issue, the April war, the recognition of the Genocide, the domestic political situation, CEPA, etc.
When the second president was detained as a result of political persecution, the EPP became an exclusive platform on which the Republican Party raised this issue, including the third president during his meetings at the EPP summit in Zagreb.
While criticizing the European direction of our party’s foreign relations, remember also that your comrade, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, closely cooperated with the Social Democrats of the European Parliament, and the Second President stated at his last press conference that he himself had done the most work in the European direction. “Isn’t this your EPP and your Europe?” However, some secondary channels, experiencing geopolitical delight, either keep silent or keep silent about the fact of Mehriban Aliyeva being awarded by Patriarch Kirill. Now the question is: in real politics, which event is more dangerous and unpleasant: the EPP resolution or the glorification of the leadership of an enemy country by the spiritual leader of a strategic ally? Let me write in the language of these propagandists: Neither the Poles, nor the Rus, nor the Germans – no foreigners will help us if we plunge ourselves and the country into hopeless obscurity and cult madness. A number of members of the Second President’s team continue to surprise with strange conversations, to which, yes, I have to respond with an article, since, let me remind you, I continue to be subjected to illegal persecution, am deprived of the opportunity to speak with a serious face in booths, also do not have the right to correspond, and in the place of house arrest since the New Year (even before the “divorce”), except for Aghvan Vardanyan and another person, whose name I will not mention in order to protect him from unnecessary blows, I have not had the honor of seeing any other opposition MP. So, yes, I will have to respond to my dear Agnese and several people who are not very dear to my heart in this format.
During the discussions on the impeachment topic, our colleagues thought that “eureka!” they found an ironclad argument, and with the participation of the Republican Party. “Even under pressure from the entire country, the Republican Party did not elect Nikol on May 1, 2018.”
The statement in quotation marks is, of course, true. We did not elect Nikol then, and a week later we were forced to give him the necessary votes not because of Serzh Sargsyan’s personal instructions, but because the rest of us did not put forward our candidacy and the situation in the country sharply worsened. But in the context I mentioned, even this is secondary.
What is more important is this: for several months, during your dishonest attempts to tie your kissed donkey to our door, you stubbornly “forgot” this fact, and now, when the microenvironment of political expediency has changed, you are trying with the same persistence to “grease” the topic of impeachment with this episode from the inexorable struggle of the Republican Party. As a classic would say, adapting to two mutually exclusive places at the same time requires a great anatomical peculiarity. So create a new playlist for yourself, this one will not work either.
I understand your dilemma regarding impeachment. You cannot nominate a second president, and you do not need anyone else. However, this dilemma cannot be resolved by giving in to Nikol and stubbornly fighting with us to hide this failure. As the Russians say: oboglis on milk, duet on water. Against this background, after the most ridiculous somersaults, our colleagues began to end almost all interviews with a call for “unity”, usually mentioning Gyumri.
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, I said after the Gyumri elections: leave your face alone, unless, of course, your plans include making post-election cooperation impossible, which your humble servant is increasingly beginning to suspect. No, don’t get me wrong, it’s good that, unlike in 2021, when you laughed at the issue of cooperation with us and took into account the statistical error of public opinion polls, “only” four years later you no longer claim to be alone, but cite Gyumri as an example.
By the way, about the lessons in Gyumri. Have you apologized to Martun Grigoryan and the Republican Party for the rampant anti-propaganda, lies and bile? Have you at least expressed regret for your inappropriate behavior? As if that wasn’t the case. Do you think this has been forgotten? It seems not. Do you hope that you will be able to continue in the same spirit in the future? I can definitely say no. Are you saying that Aprilyan was a nobody and achieved little diplomatic success? Seriously? So, the “Common State” won, and Aprilyan and his package are nobody? You say, isn’t it good that in 2018 a geopolitical consensus was reached on removing Sargsyan? But maybe there was no need to take any action in the North before and during that time to achieve such a consensus? By the way, Serzh Sargsyan and the Republican Party did nothing behind the Second President’s back during his rule (and there were many potential schemes: Demirchyan, Geghamyan, Baghdasaryan and others), so the Second President’s power was strengthened. Can Vardan Ghukasyan’s famous geopolitical statement become your internal consensus? Why did you forget that the intelligence stories related to Ararat Mirzoyan, with which you slyly fill our pockets, relate to the period of the Second President’s rule (before 2007)? Why weren’t measures taken then? Or maybe that’s how you needed it? You see, how many unpleasant questions I can raise even with the help of the “lavas” article.
Oh, and don’t use meaningless self-promotion in the format of “Look into Nicole’s eyes and ask questions.” This is parliamentary activity in a format convenient for you. Otherwise, my friends and I would have asked so many questions, “looking into Nicole’s eyes” in 2018, when her rating was not 10-12 percent, as it is today, but 90-95 percent. If looking into the eyes of a monster and asking a question is heroism, then get in line, dear ones. I was finishing my article when the video of the Third President’s meeting with the students of the “Armenian University” was published, which caused a stormy reaction not only from the Nikolian and Azerbaijani media, but also from circles associated with the Second President. Answer one question honestly. Do you really think that the speeches, press conferences and interviews of the respected Second President are so impeccable that the Republicans have nothing to say? Have you ever thought that this is simply the result of our respect, restraint, opposition solidarity, non-submission to the demands of the authorities and seriousness? Taros to all colleagues with a leader complex.
P.S.: Today there is no shortage of “leaders” in Armenia. It is a pity that the issue of leadership has not been resolved.
ARMEN ASHOTYAN
Vice President of the RPA
TKU “Dzoraghbyur”
2025-05-05