ArmInfo.Former director of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia Arthur Vanetsyan, heading a new center-right political party, intends to act in  opposition to the government of Nikol Pashinyan.

In an interview with Interfax news agency,  former head of the NSS  of Armenia Artur Vanetsyan stated that the new political force will  be centrist – center-right, and that traditions and progress will be  harmoniously interwoven in the basis of ideology and programs. <At  the moment, there is a process of extensive consultations with  like-minded people and possible partners, and only after all possible  discussions we will put forward specific program provisions and a  roadmap for further actions. The new political force will be the  opposition, "Vanetsyan said. According to him, currently there are  many problems in Armenia that need to be resolved, and the government  has moved away from the goals of the" velvet revolution "in spring  2018. The ex-director of the NSS believes that there can be no return  to the past in Armenia. At the same time, Vanetsyan is against tough  political demarcation in society on the principle of "who is not with  us, that is against us."

"This postulate today, obviously, has become a convenient rule for  the current government, which is unacceptable from the point of view  of building a rule of law, separation of branches of power and a  balanced civil society. To my extreme conviction, radicalism and  extremes should not have a place in today's Armenia. An alternative  there is a black and white political field, because the world is  actually full of colors, and even with dozens of shades. And we  intend to create our spectrum in a common political palette,  "Vanetsyan said. "Instead of widespread social consolidation, without  which Armenia cannot overcome the threats hanging over the country  and society, we have received new internal" trenches ", dividing  into" black and white "," old and new "," consonants and not so ",  mercilessly fighting each other with a friend in an atmosphere of  universal hatred. A separate topic is the inadmissibility of  involving power structures in all this, "Vanetsyan said.

He emphasized that Russia remains and will be a strategic ally of  Armenia, in the interests of the two countries to remain reliable and  predictable partners. According to him, Yerevan and Moscow should  preserve the centuries-old history and the accumulated potential of  fraternal and strategic relations, steadily develop them both in the  bilateral and in the multilateral formats of the EAEU and CSTO.

"Today, many of those who were in the opposition's leadership and  aggressively took anti-Russian positions, right up to the legislative  initiative on the withdrawal of Armenia from the EAEU by Nikol  Pashinyan himself, are at the helm of power in Armenia. They stated  that the EAEU is a threat to the sovereignty of Armenia. Meanwhile,  today they use every opportunity to emphasize the importance of  Armenia's membership in the EAEU and the need to deepen cooperation  with the organization, "Vanetsyan emphasized, adding that" real  politics and populism incompatible. "

Meanwhile, at the request of ArmInfo to comment on the political  application of the former head of St.  Petersburg, the director of  the Caucasus Institute, an independent political scientist Alexander  Iskandaryan noted that demand for opposition to the ruling regime is  now forming in Armenia. There was no serious proposal to date.  According to him, the configuration of parliamentary parties reflects  the post- revolutionary expectations of more than a year ago, which  does not fully correspond to the current public mood.

Under these conditions, Iskandaryan said, an application for the  formation of a serious extra-parliamentary force is natural. Such a  force could unite in itself many disparate groups of people who are  skeptical of the new regime, including representatives of past  elites. On the other hand, public support for the ruling "My Step" is  still quite large, and the natural downgrade is highly dependent on  the number of mistakes that the new government has made and will  continue to make.  <Usually in Armenia the opposition could not be  united, it was always divided into different, rival groups.  The  formation of a new, serious political force is not easy, it is still  difficult to expect instantaneous successes, but the appearance of  such political applications already indicates, at a minimum, the  formation of a political request>, the political scientist noted.  To  recall, Arthur Vanetsyan was appointed to the post of director of the  National Security Service of the republic on May 10, 2018, after  Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister. September 16, 2019  Vanetsyan was relieved of his post. On February 6, 2020, he announced  his intention to create a party and begin a political career.