We are going by way of power change, legally. One can resort to anything, but it will lead to upheavals in the country. So, we are going by way of power change, legally. Opposition Strong Armenia Alliance leader Samvel Karapetyan on Tuesday told this to reporters.

“The time will come, and we will all witness it with admiration,” he assured.

Karapetyan explained that several triggers are needed to start a street struggle. “We will be attentive. And if these triggers are present, there will definitely be both a street struggle and a struggle in parliament. Everything must happen in parallel,” Karapetyan said.

In his assessment, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not be able to stifle the struggle in its infancy, because even through the use of fraud and repression, he was unable to garner enough votes to form a legitimate government.

“Pashinyan’s CEC [i.e. the Central Electoral Commission] announced one thing, and then what?” added the leader of the opposition Strong Armenia Alliance.

He assured that by taking the parliamentary mandates, Strong Armenia does not recognize the legitimacy of the authorities.

“That is absolutely not the case. The authorities themselves did not want to recognize their legitimacy. I made a clear proposal: if you really have won [the parliamentary elections], then do it legally, and we will recognize your legitimacy. They chose a different path,” he added.

The politician said that there were also signals from voters about the need to take the parliamentary mandates, but the main thing is the corresponding calculation that this is the shortest way to remove Nikol Pashinyan from power.

“The criticism that we took [the parliamentary] mandates is deliberate, and we do not attach any importance to it. From the very first day, Pashinyan and his supporters put this topic into circulation, and it seemed to them that we would succumb to these provocations,” added the leader of the Strong Armenia Alliance.

Samvel Karapetyan added that the theories that the representatives of the Strong Armenia Alliance bought votes were rejected by the Constitutional Court.

“And now the courts will be forced to release our colleagues,” he added.

According to the opposition figure, Armenia’s farmers and businesses are currently facing serious problems.

“We will talk about this every day, especially in parliament. We will do everything to reach a solution. We, together with all opposition forces, will petition to Russia, calling for easing restrictions on Armenian goods. This will happen at the first assembly of the opposition forces," concluded Samvel Karapetyan.