Robert Kocharyan on pre-election blackmail, war threats, and the government’s failures

Robert Kocharyan, the second president of the Republic of Artsakh and leader of the Armenia bloc, joined bloc MPs Agnessa Khamoyan and Anna Grigoryan in the third episode of the “Big Politics” podcast to discuss the threat of war that the Civil Contract party has been raising in recent days.

“Elections exist precisely to debate serious issues. The country is approaching a defining moment, and it is through substantive dialogue that people should decide which political force and which leader to vote for. What I see now is a deliberate attempt to reduce the entire process to something trivial,” said Kocharyan, who is the Armenia bloc’s candidate for prime minister.

According to the former president, the country is approaching a defining moment, and it is through substantive dialogue that people should decide which political force and which leader to vote for.

He was equally blunt about the ruling party’s campaign tactics. “The reason is clear to me: they have nothing to say on serious issues, and at times their moves border on the absurd, as if eating lavash and potatoes alongside the people is reason enough to vote for them. If we sink to that level of frivolity, we will lose our voters. The question is simple: do you respect your own people, or do you turn elections into a circus? What I’m seeing now isn’t even a circus anymore, frankly, the whole thing has been turned into a madhouse.”

Kocharyan also took aim at what he described as a race for online views at the expense of substance. “The chase for views has become an end in itself, regardless of the content. I’ll say something now half-joking, half-serious, but leaning toward serious: if some politician or public figure in Armenia were to, bluntly put, bray like a donkey with full conviction, I think it would rack up millions of views. If that’s the tool for gaining popularity and someone is willing to do it for the numbers — go ahead. And honestly, I understand them. What else do they have to say in a serious conversation? How do they explain surrendering Artsakh? Why have three wars broken out in these eight years? Who will answer for 5,000 casualties and a host of other questions? The calculation is simple: they play the role of ordinary people eating potatoes with the people, yet a minister’s New Year’s bonus alone could buy around 40 tons of those very potatoes.”