The political assessment of the current developments is that Pashinyan is both traitor and incompetent. In fact, he has failed to exercise his powers which resulted in treacherous agreements concluded with the enemy side," Head of the Department of Iranian Studies at YSU Vardan Voskanyan told an interview with Panorama.am.
Voskanyan pointed to the fact that as a result of the agreement reached between Pashinyan and Azerbaijan, not only Armenia lost part of Artsakh, but also pushed the NK conflict settlement to uncertainty and indefinite future, since the ongoing problems the country face may not allow to think of the Artsakh issue.
"One conclusion we can give is that Pashinyan is incompetent and traitor and should resign as soon as possible," the YSU professor said.
Voskanyan reminded that the idea of holding snap elections was put forward by intellectuals long before Pashinyan came up with the idea, however one precondition for that was Pashinyan's resignation and his removal from office.
"Authorities are the symbol of the defeat and in the face of their leader they are not capable of organizing an electoral process given also the lack of trust in the public. If Pashinyan considers himself the guarantor of the free will of the people, it is obvious that during his ruling, especially in the war and post-war period, he has failed to act as a guarantor," Voskanyan said. In his words, no-one may claim that people's will is in any way expressed in the shameful statement signed on November 9 or in the land concessions being made daily to the enemy in border areas of Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces of Armenia.
"Furthermore, those developments have direct negative consequences on the life and the vitality of the local communities, likewise the future viability of Armenia in a broad sense. The Syunik example, where Pashinyan was not able to guarantee even the preservation of the 4km-long road section, comes to prove this. That road was crucial both in terms of ensuring inter-Armenian transport communication as well as relations with Iran which are of vital importance for Armenia. In fact, the person, who occupies now the office of the prime minister, not only failed to ensure the will and wish of Syunik residents but also the security of Armenia, considering the strategically important land corridor with Iran," said the expert in Iranian studies.
Voskanyan admitted with pain that Armenia has never had a lower security level than today, and the people never felt unsafe like these days.
"It is obvious, that Pashinyan cannot organize free, fair and transparent elections. In order to organize such elections, one should be impartial and entrusted with arbitration functions. One person capable to show impartiality has been nominated by the opposition. That is Armenia's first prime minister Vazgen Manukyan, who'll exercise arbitration functions while assuming the post and not participating in the elections himself. He may act an arbitrator and that could be acceptable for any reasonable person," concluded Voskanyan.