Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Clashes and fights in Yerevan between the rally participants and the police, caused by the process of dismantling a cafe in the city center on March 14, were the first serious confrontation between the society and the Pashinyan government.

Moreover, despite the still quite high degree of trust of the citizens of the country personally to Pashinyan, it is clear to see that in the case of the demolition of a cafe in the center of Yerevan, the overwhelming majority of society took the side of the owners and workers of the demolished establishments.

This is evidenced by the mood in the Armenian segment of social networks and in society as a whole.

For almost a year in power, Nikol Pashinyan and his government have not been able to overcome unemployment, although this item was one of his main promises.

On the contrary, the “reform” of the state apparatus has already thrown hundreds of people onto the streets, several thousand more will soon join the army of the unemployed.

In such conditions, it was a fatal mistake to start the demolition of a cafe near the building of the National Opera and Ballet Theater, which feed several dozen, maybe hundreds of families.

The government did not take into account that this is not just a cafe, but the property of people who invested money in them, as well as arranged the territory. A dismantling of establishments threatens them with financial losses. Everything is done for the sake of landscaping, as the mayor’s office claims.

But, is gardening the territory near the theatre more important than the prosperity of the people? Power has shown that, yes, it is more important. The authorities wanted to be like this and do not care about the opinion and needs of the people. Therefore, the actions of the authorities caused the condemnation of society.

The second reason that caused the indignation of people is cruel and inadequate situations of police action. People again saw that in post-revolutionary Armenia, the authorities continue to operate using the old, Kocharyan and Sargsyan methods. Large forces of law enforcement officers were thrown at any protest of society with the order “do not take it alive”.

People just defending their right to food were brutally beaten with truncheons. Is this how a democratic government works?

It seems that Pashinyan and his government, does not notice this, or pretends that he does not see anything, he does not hear anything. But such a position does not bode well for him. The people gave Pashinyan a huge mandate of trust in the hope that he would meet his expectations and improve his life. But so far many steps of the government only cause a painful reaction in society.

Pashinyan once told reporters after a government meeting that he would leave his post if he lost the support of society.

He said as long as he has public support, he will use it for the development of the country.

But is it worth it to anger society and bring it to completely lose its support? The question remains open.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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