"Fact" daily writes:
On October 20, Nikol Pashinyan brought to life his recent threats to Vardan Ghukasyan. The security forces broke into the building of the Gyumri municipality and arrested eight people, including the mayor.
Ghukasyan is accused not of receiving a bribe, but of demanding a bribe in the amount of 10 thousand dollars. Based on that, the anti-corruption court chose two months of detention as a preventive measure. The only "proof" of the accusation is a recording, the content of which can be interpreted in different ways. Its context and time frame remain unclear. Ghukasyan's defense attorney Aramayis Hayrapetyan claims that the recording was cut out of context and edited by artificial intelligence.
He emphasizes that the investigation did not present any factual evidence that would confirm the fact of demanding a bribe. The interpretation of the recording as a conversation about bribery is the subjective perception of the investigator. Today, even a schoolchild can prepare such a "proof".
Moreover, Armenian schoolchildren even understand that the real reason for the noisy arrest is not that incomprehensible recording, but Ghukasyan's opposition statements. At the beginning of October, Pashinyan organized public hysteria against the elected mayor of Gyumri. He stated that "such characters" should be pushed out of the political and public sphere by "democratic methods", as if open threats can be combined with democracy.
The person occupying the post of Prime Minister called the election of Ghukasyan a "misunderstanding", although he was already elected for the sixth time. He also unjustifiably accused the mayor of distributing election bribes, which the CEC never recorded. The reason for Pashinyan's noisy reaction was Ghukasyan's statement about the advisability of creating a united state with Russia, as well as his observations on independence from Turkey's influence. Many people noticed that the phrase "independence from Turkey" became the reason for the nervous reaction of the CP leader.
Ghukasyan undoubtedly questioned Pashinyan's "sanctity" in connection with pan-Turkist integration. Of course, Ghukasyan had long understood what to expect from Pashinyan. While commenting on the news about the murder of Parakar community head Volodya Grigoryan, he noted that community leaders elected by the people and enjoying their trust have become living targets, and the threats from the elite are state policy. Despite this, he was not going to give up.
In response to Pashinyan's threats, he was going to fight with democratic methods, forgetting that they are effective only against democratic government, and the government in Armenia is not like that. First, Ghukasyan immediately publicly reported about the violations committed by the "Civil Agreement" during the Gyumri elections.
According to him, the authorities bribed the voters with up to 60 thousand drams, and the party members were transported by buses to Gyumri, registering them in the city. According to Ghukasyan, 57 people were registered in one house. All this, according to him, is known to both journalists and Gyumri residents.
He offered to validate that information. Next: Ghukasyan announced that he will sue the Armenian government in the coming days. According to him, 58 billion drams are taken from Gyumri, and only 4 billion are returned to the city budget, when 27 billion should have been returned. This kind of attitude towards their money naturally upsets the people of Gyumri. In addition, the master plan for the development of Gyumri was approved, but the government does not allow it to be implemented. Ghukasyan planned to solve all these issues through court. In response, the authorities simply arrested him.
At the time of the arrest, thousands of Gyumri citizens gathered in the central square, demanding the immediate release of the mayor. The police responded with brutal force. Tension had started, and Ghukasyan, for the safety of the citizens, came out to the people who supported him in the building and announced that he was ready to go with the law enforcement officers to solve everything according to the law.
Unfortunately, solving it by law is impossible under Pashinyan. The arrest of Ghukasyan, as one of the most famous opposition figures, is part of Pashinyan's systematic filtering of the political field before the parliamentary elections.
What should such a leader like Pashinyan do, with an already low and steadily declining rating, as well as a clear understanding that after the election of a new government by the people, not only his political career will end, but also, probably, his freedom? The only way out is to try to maintain power in the infamous scenario of Moldova.
That is why Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with Moldova's Foreign Minister Mihai Popsho in Brussels. Moldova actively shares "the experience of conducting elections". However, Armenians are not Moldovans. As Reuters analysts note, the bet on force methods may have the opposite result for Pashinyan.
The pressures against the church and popular mayors can lead to anti-authority consolidation of the people.
And soon Pashinyan and his team will appear on the margins of history, using the most honest and democratic methods.
