Sargsyan's becoming prime minister to exhaust nation’s patience
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia is face to face to with a next wave of mass protests as the nation will elect the new president and prime minister in March-April this year.
The major public concerns are related with a fear that the current president Serzh Sargsyan, who could not resolve the economic and social problems of the country, will take a position of the prime minister. That may enable him to rule the country, since Armenia will be a parliamentary republic very soon.
In his recent interview with 1in.am Ashot Grigoryan, chairman of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe said that the situation in Armenia is explosive.
“If Serzh Sargsyan decides to become Prime Minister of Armenia in April, he will exhaust the nation’s patience,” he said.
“An outbreak can occur at any moment, and if he does this last meanness [becomes the prime minister], there can be unpredictable consequences. Although I do not think that the appointment of another dummy in this post can be a solution to this situation,” Grigoryan said.
Meanwhile, the year 2018 began for Armenia with an unpleasant “surprise” for the population – a number of consumer goods, gasoline, liquefied gas became more expensive. The "Exit" alliance initiated protest rallies, and Serzh Sargsyan, in turn, convened a meeting and instructed to mitigate the consequences of inflation. There emerges a situation when the possibility of social rebellion is quite real.
“Until now the authorities have suppressed all uprisings by illegal and criminal methods. Now the pressure angle has increased, and there will be an outburst,” said Grigoryan.
He predicts that the tension will reach the culmination in March-April, and notes that for Sargsyan it would be better to realize this in advance.
Of course, the current authorities of Armenia can prevent this scenario in the country by stepping down this spring, but something tells that they will try to continue to impose their rule on the Armenian population.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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