Could Pashinyan’s premiership have been avoided?

May 8 marks seven years since Nikol Pashinyan became Prime Minister of Armenia. What seemed like a bad and unfortunate joke turned out to be a historical disaster for Armenia, Artsakh and the entire Armenian people. A lot of materials about the results of Pashinyan’s seven-year rule of the country have already been published in the press. They rightly speak about the loss of Artsakh, the occupation of part of the territory of the Republic of Armenia, and the incredible growth of the national debt exceeding $13 billion. But we’d better talk about something else — was it possible to avoid Pashinyan’s premiership?

To do this, it is necessary to restore the chain of events:

– In the 1990s and 2000s, Pashinyan wrote marginal articles (for example, “We and our Interests”), where he offered to provide Turkey and the United States with access to communications in Armenia. That is, decades ago, he supported the agenda of the Zangezur Corridor.

– In 2007-2008, Pashinyan joined Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s movement, became one of the instigators of the March 1 events, after which he fled the scene of the crime, leaving 10 victims on the streets of Yerevan. Later, while “underground,” he wrote articles where the main object of criticism was not the government but the opposition. Already in 2025, it became known from one of the members of the Republican Party of Armenia that Pashinyan had been needed as an “alternative to the opposition,” enabling him to continue writing while in hiding.

– After the events of March 1, 2008, Pashinyan’s political and journalistic career should have ended. Moreover, he was even imprisoned. However, before the 2012 elections, he was given a chance — he was released and given a deputy mandate for the first time.

– In the same period, the financing of Pashinyan’s newspaper by Serzh Sargsyan’s son-in-law, Mikael Minasyan, began.

– In the 2017 elections, the Yelk Alliance, formed with the help of the former authorities, entered the National Assembly. Pashinyan was given a deputy mandate again.

– In 2018, Serzh Sargsyan broke his own promises and went for a third term, which led to mass protests. Nikol Pashinyan, taking advantage of the wave of just discontent, went to Yerevan, broke into the guarded building of the Radio House, but he was not deprived of his immunity or imprisoned.

– After “adventures in the Radio House” and “negotiations in Marriott,” Pashinyan was abducted from the crowd but again was not punished but released. Although his arrest, as well as the arrest of 3-4 more activists of the movement, could close all questions.

– After Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation, the RPA did not nominate its candidate and even gave the necessary number of votes necessary for Pashinyan to be elected. Although the parliamentary majority remained with the RPA, even after Sargsyan’s resignation, they could choose anyone as prime minister, including those who are now considered candidates for this post.

After the “Armenian spring” of 2018, the events in Belarus and Georgia showed that if governments decide to remain in power, they find a way to do so. They do not give up, and against any “powerful force” there is another, more powerful one that helps defend the state.

And we have a situation where, after 7 years, Nikol Pashinyan remains in office, and the whole of Armenia is in danger.

Think about it…