Armenian opposition lawmaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan has dismissed the government’s plan to hold a military parade in May as a pre-election maneuver aimed at misleading the public.
In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, the Hayastan bloc MP said parades should serve to boost morale or send deterrent signals to adversaries, accusing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration of using the event to create a false sense of security.
Saghatelyan cited past examples, including the 2019 presentation of Russian-made Su-30 fighter jets that were later found to lack missiles during the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war. He argued that under Pashinyan and Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, Armenia’s armed forces remain vulnerable.
“This is an election parade aimed at deceiving people once again,” Saghatelyan said, adding that no major military exercises have been held since the war. He accused the current leadership of undermining Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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