PM mocks ex-presidents' teams over power transition debate

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to the ongoing debate between the teams of two former presidents about who facilitated his rise to power, calling them "electoral fraudsters and usurpers." He expressed his views in a Facebook post.

"Two worn-out figures and their fellows are arguing over who brought me to power, demanding that each other tell the truth. But why don’t you say who brought you to power— you, the electoral fraudsters and usurpers who never had the people’s mandate?" Pashinyan wrote.

In another post, he stressed that no one brought him to power.

"No one brought me to power. The 2018 nonviolent, velvet revolution brought power to the people. I am merely the caretaker of the people’s power, and they will replace me when they choose," he stated.

Earlier, MP Anna Mkrtchyan from the "I Have Honor" faction claimed that the narrative of the Republican Party handing power to Pashinyan was likely crafted by Kocharyan’s office and passed on to Pashinyan’s camp for use.

Previously, Bagrat Mikoyan, head of Robert Kocharyan’s office, stated that anti-Kocharyan sentiment within the Republican Party had been brewing since 2008. He claimed that a close relative of Serzh Sargsyan had admitted to supporting Pashinyan for years, using the "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper to spread disinformation about the second president and his family. According to Mikoyan, most Armenians already know who brought Pashinyan to power and who granted him authority.