Pashinyan attempts to drag church into political field where other rules apply — Armen Badalyan

In recent days, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been making anti-church statements, accusing clergymen of violating their vow of celibacy. Alpha News spoke with political strategist Armen Badalyan about this matter.

According to him, the Armenian Apostolic Church is undermining Pashinyan’s entire strategy.

“Pashinyan’s rating has dropped so low that only his most loyal supporters remain. However, the problem is not his rating, but the policy he pursues towards the church. He has both a pretext and a reason to use unethical language, prompted by the Armenian Apostolic Church’s participation in an international conference on the Artsakh issue in Switzerland. This has become a pretext for attacks, since it contradicts his claim that the Artsakh issue is closed. However, the Armenian Apostolic Church is participating in an international conference related to the Artsakh issue, stating that, at least for the church, this issue is not closed. This has become a pretext to attack the church, since it is undermining all the prime minister’s plans,” Badalyan noted.

According to the political strategist, the church’s silence is driving Pashinyan to emotional outbursts.

“The church issued a statement, responding to Pashinyan from a moral perspective, but it will not say anything further. Now the church must show political restraint, since the prime minister’s goal is to drag it into a political field where other rules apply—rules the church may not fully understand. The silence of the church leads Pashinyan to emotional outbursts and discontent,” Badalyan concluded.