YEREVAN. – The internal political developments in Armenia are conditioned by the fact that the person [i.e., acting PM Nikol Pashinyan] who brought Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] and Armenia collapse is still in power at the moment; as the opposition could not solve this issue on the streets, everyone [now] goes to the [snap parliamentary] elections [slated for June 20]. Analyst Argishti Kiviryan told this to a press conference on Saturday.

"These elections are not a ‘band-aid’ for all wounds, but are a way, an opportunity to try to form a new government through elections, to get rid of Nikol Pashinyan. There are two options: either to get rid [of him] through classic elections, the other—if he obviously goes to the use of administrative resources and [electoral] fraud, then try to turn these elections into a revolutionary process," he said.

Also, Kiviryan reflected on the current parliamentary opposition forces, noting: "Until today, we have seen that some politicians who declared themselves in opposition have behaved in the role of Nikol Pashinyan's servants." In this connection, the analyst gave the example of Edmon Marukyan, chairman of the opposition Bright Armenia Party and head of its parliamentary faction.

"It is profitable to serve from the positions of the opposition. On the other hand, it is the [parliamentary opposition] PAP [Prosperous Armenia Party] that was providing ‘water’ in 2018, and now, too, it does not do badly in providing," added Kiviryan.

He noted second President Robert Kocharyan as a real opposition, who is not going to negotiate with these authorities. "The authorities managed to put Robert Kocharyan [in prison] for some time, which brought him back to politics and made him one of the main factors.

One of the most effective steps taken by Nikol Pashinyan was to return Robert Kocharyan to big politics at any cost. I am sure that Nikol will ‘rejoice’ these bitter fruits for himself," said Argishti Kiviryan.

The analyst believes that the upcoming elections will be bipolar. "People elect the prime minister, and the [political] teams that will have candidates for prime minister will have the greatest chances. Robert Kocharyan's team has its candidate. People will go to elect the next prime minister. People will avoid voting for that team where there is no candidate for prime minister.

There is usually a bipolar election in Armenia. Today we see that the main opposition is Robert Kocharyan, and the political generation will occur around him. If he can apply that model, it will work. He can win in case of tabbing it in the right direction," concluded Argishti Kiviryan.