The entire pre-election atmosphere and the propaganda agenda of most of the opposition is built on the circulation of the thesis that the change of power on June 7 is almost an established fact. It is not just an empty slogan.

Talking about the defeat of CP and Nikol Pashinyan, everyone refers to the disgraceful low rating of the government in various sociological surveys, the total lack of public trust. In this sense, the opposition is not dishonest with the public. However, there is a caveat that makes all such predictions unreal.

Based on the ratings, the thesis of the inevitability of Pashinyan’s defeat can be viable only if we were talking about a truly democratic government, which in case of defeat is ready to accept the reality and leave. Բայց նման բան ակնկալել մի իշխանությունից, որը բոլոր հնարավոր պարտություններից երջանկանում է միայն Ադրբեջանից կրած պարտությունից ու ամեն անգամ հեռանում է վերջինիս պահանջած դիրքերից, քաղաքական ինֆանտիլիզմ է։

Technically, how the non-handover of power will take place: open election fraud, violence, or just publication of the desired results, is secondary. The West, which previously “expressed concern” about election frauds and granted a license for their “legitimacy”, today is almost at the level of a pre-election headquarters attached to the CP campaign.

What has been said does not mean that there is no possibility of a change of power and one should surrender in the face of elections before the main battle has started. There is a real chance of a change of power, with the difference that it is not on June 7 and at the polling station, but before that and on the street.

Otherwise, regardless of the results of the vote, Pashinyan will retain power, even if he bites the index finger of CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan, who announced his defeat on live TV.

This reality is also evidenced by the government’s steps, which have nothing in common with the pre-election logic of the ruling power expecting electoral votes and public trust. For example, yesterday, Alen Simonyan signed another order, according to which the deputies and staff members of the National Assembly will receive the regular bonus.։

In the country, where the most discussed topic in recent years and especially in recent months is the perversion of bonuses of officials, taking such a step before the elections is an act equal to political suicide. But this shows that the government does not care about public opinion and the number of electoral votes, and through its most capable representative, pays those who will participate with their breasts and other body parts on June 7 in the dirty process of turning Pashinyan’s electoral defeat, which is becoming more evident every day, into a political victory, in order to ensure the continuation of personal and group greed.

The main task of the government is to take the opposition and society to the polling station by any means possible. The opposition should be able to bring the government to the streets by any means before the elections.

The well-known and traditionally used phrase in Armenian political speech “the government has thrown it on the street” is now very close to becoming a reality. But until this moment, Pashinyan is doing it to get it from the street to the precinct, and the opposition is thinking about going to the street after June 7 at best.

And it will be the “Mustard after dinner” item, which, taking into account Pashinyan’s recent gastronomic preferences, can be transformed at best into an allegory of “Mustard after dinner with mallow”, but never into a change of government. 

Harutyun Avetisyan

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The 5.5-kilometer section of the gas pipeline coming from Georgia to Armenia will be moved at the request of Armenia. The relevant application has already been submitted to the Department of Environmental Control of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Georgia. This is reported by Sputnik Georgia.

According to the documents, the change in the location of the pipeline is related to the request of the Armenian side, because the Armenian part of the pipeline is located in the Georgian-Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone and was mined in the 90s.

“Based on the fact that it is not possible to maintain the minimum safety standards and carry out repair work in the given section, on the basis of the tripartite interstate agreement, it was decided to remove the said problematic section of the gas pipeline from the minefield and build a new gas pipeline at a safe distance,” the statement said.
The pipeline will be moved several kilometers and will connect to the new section built by the Armenian side.

The gas pipeline from Georgia is one of the main ways of supplying natural gas to Armenia. Armenia receives gas from Russia through Georgia’s transit infrastructure.

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Tigran Abrahamyan, the secretary of the NA “I have honor” faction, during the briefings of the parliamentary factions today, referred to the protest action of missing and dead servicemen in the 44-day war, stressing that people demand to publish the report of the commission investigating the circumstances of the 44-day war.

“I myself had the opportunity to talk on various occasions with the relatives of the boys who were missing or martyred in the war, but the essence of the issue related to the topic is much clearer. After the end of the war, when the emotional background was quite high, the authorities promised people to respond through a report and name the guilty and responsible, give clear assessments. Now the situation is that that report essentially has the status of an archived one,” said Tigran Abrahamyan.

According to the opposition deputy, when the decision to create an investigative commission was made, the position of the “I have honor” faction was clear: the persons holding political responsibility and positions during the war cannot conduct a fair and objective investigation through any commission.

“Now it is a situation that the investigative commission has worked, arrived and reached a controversial point. Let me say right away that I got acquainted with the report of the Investigative Commission, there is a lot to say, but the confidentiality regime does not allow me to speak. But in every case, there are government promises that the report should satisfy the demands of the beneficiaries, but it has not fulfilled its promise,” added Tigran Abrahamyan.

He also referred to the statements of the current RA authorities, particularly Nikol Pashinyan, that during the Azerbaijani aggression of September 2023, “Artsakh Armenians did not fight” but “ran away”.

“In this context, I want to ask one question, which may or may not be rhetorical. If the people of Artsakh did not fight under the conditions of the aggression carried out by Azerbaijan in 2023, how did it happen that after those war operations, the commander of the Defense Forces who “did not fight” continues his service in the Armed Forces? This means two things: either Nikol Pashinyan is lying, that is, he is once again trying to manipulate the field through disinformation, or all those situations are favorable for Nikol Pashinyan, when people who, according to his assessment, are “runaways” enter the service in the Armed Forces,” Tigran Abrahamyan emphasized.

Details in the video of 168.am

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Members of the “Strong Armenia” party were on a working visit to Syunik Marz yesterday.

The first stop was the city of Sisian, where the party members met with supporters of the party’s Sisian community.

During the meeting, Narek Karapetyan, a member of the board of the “Strong Armenia” party, presented the economic and security plans of the party’s chairman, Samvel Karapetyan, as well as the reasons for Samvel Karapetyan’s entry into politics.

“Having an alternative to just live a quiet life, Samvel Karapetyan decided not to live a quiet life, to go under it and try to change it and he will change it.” Other, other power, if you see it, tell me who can lift Armenia out of poverty. Who has the experience to lift Armenia out of poverty? There is no one who has an economic background, who has worked with tens of thousands of people, who knows how to overcome that poverty.”

Narek Karapetyan, speaking about the path taken by the chairman of the party, Samvel Karapetyan, noted that the chairman of the party has traveled the same path in different countries of the world. It is not that he succeeded in one country, Samvel Karapetyan has his economic units in three or four countries. Narek Karapetyan stressed that Samvel Karapetyan invests his potential for the development of Armenia and does not have and cannot have any other motivation than the development of Armenia, because being financially secure, he will be the only leader of Armenia who will not need anything after coming to power.

During the meeting, economic, security, social, educational and a number of other issues, as well as the challenges of balanced development of communities, were also addressed.

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“LUYS” Foundation analyzed the socio-economic developments of the RA economy in 2026. in January-February.

Thus.

• 2026 the high economic growth rate is maintained, mainly due to the growth of the mining industry. The current year started with a relatively high economic activity index, the pace of which slowed down slightly in February. In February, RA’s economic activity index (TAC) was 7.2%, slowing down by 0.4 percentage points compared to January. The TAC of January-February was 7.4%, to which the industry sector had the biggest positive contribution, which in turn was caused mainly by the growth of the mining industry. Services, trade and construction sectors also contributed positively to the TAC.
• The indicators of export and import have been restored. After the decline recorded in January, both export and import volumes recovered sharply in February, increasing by 37.6% and 26.9%, respectively. Although the structural data of February’s foreign trade have not yet been published, the analysis of January’s indicators allows us to assume that the increase in exports is mainly due to the activation of exports of mining products.
• State budget revenues and expenditures are increasing, but capital expenditures are decreasing. 2026 In January-February, both revenues and expenses of the state budget increased. At the same time, capital expenditures have decreased significantly by 58.8%. Such a sharp decline in capital expenditures is worrisome given their importance to long-term economic growth and infrastructural development.
• The rate of inflation has started to accelerate. Inflation rate in 2026 in February it was 4.3%, accelerating by 0.5 percentage points compared to January. In those circumstances, however, the central bank did not revise the refinancing rate during March, maintaining it at the level of 6.5%.

The full analysis is available at this link:

 “LUYS” Foundation

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