The second president of RA, Robert Kocharyan, gave an interview to “Golos Armeni” newspaper, in which he noted that “consensus minus one” as an idea has already been formed.

Answering the question of what he is going to oppose to the government, which does not have a clear concept of development, Kocharyan responded: managerial experience, a conceptual plan for the economic and social development of the country, and a professional, predictable team of managers.

“I have a successful experience of presiding in Artsakh and Armenia. For the last 10 years, I have been a member of the board of directors of a large investment company working in various sectors of the economy. So, I have a unique experience in the implementation of military and state construction, socio-economic large-scale reforms, as well as an understanding of the implementation of modern business mechanisms. Are there many people with such experience in Armenia?” he said.

Turning to the question of how much he intends to follow the wait-and-see tactics and at what moment he will voice his ideas about the specific format of the opposition, the second president of RA said that “consensus minus one” as an idea has already been formed in the political field. According to him, everyone sees that the state apparatus serves not the development plans of the country, but the instincts and whims of one person, which derive from his extremely primitive worldview. 

“Everyone is talking about the simplicity and functional impotence of the authorities today. In other words, there is fertile ground for consolidation in the opposition field. However, I do not think that the unified consolidation center will be created at once. I assume that there will be several centers with different gravity, but active cooperation between them will be ensured. Moreover, the politically active intellectual part of the society will be concentrated there. I will be an important link in those processes, but not the only one. The country needs a broad consolidation of healthy forces. That process will definitely lead to the radicalization of the parliamentary opposition, otherwise it will lose its electorate. In the fall, the process of consolidation and partnership formation in the field of the opposition will be completed, and the political struggle will acquire a systematic and large-scale character,” he said.

As for the question of how to prevent the danger that dissatisfaction from “below” would not lead to solving the question of power on the street again, Kocharyan expressed the opinion that the question of power will be decided on the street in any case… through extraordinary parliamentary elections.

“With this quality of management, the current government will not last long and has no prospects of re-election. Voters will be fed up with populists and will be more demanding when making a choice. Usually, failed populists are replaced by experienced, educated and balanced pragmatists, such is the logic of political processes. A recent example is the results of the extraordinary parliamentary elections in Greece.”

The topic of upcoming presidential elections in Artsakh was not neglected either. Kocharyan expressed hope that there will be no export of the revolution from Armenia, so to speak, which will prevent the extraordinary presidential and parliamentary elections.

“Emergency elections usually reflect the internal political crisis, of which there are definitely no signs in Artsakh. Creating a man-made crisis there would be highly irresponsible and a betrayal of national interests. The people of Artsakh must show strength and reject any attempt at destructive intervention.”

At the end he added: 

“It is difficult to ignore the “judicial” component of my political activism imposed by the government. I am forced to combine opposition activity and legal protection in prison, if you can call it that. However, all this has a positive aspect. The government, in hysteria, threw away the benevolent mask of a fighter for justice, showing everyone that its slogans and values ​​had nothing to do with reality. It is extremely important for the thinking part of society, and the government has already lost its support.”