
ArmInfo. International centers "could care less about" how many people will be detained in Armenia, according to Eduard Sharmazanov, a board member of the Republican Party of Armenia.
He stated that the Central Electoral Commission annulled 4% of the votes received by the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) in broad daylight, and not a single international organization said a word about it.
"One should not be surprised; he [Prime Minister Pashinyan] announced that there would be a vendetta and that he would imprison everyone, and that is exactly what he is doing. One should not be surprised that, in parallel with the elections and after them, the regime has initiated a new phase of repression." Sharmazanov stated. He argued that the regime and its foreign partners need a controlled political field—as vital to them as "air and water"—one that excludes any mention of Artsakh, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, or the content of the Declaration of Independence. He emphasized that the more than 500,000 votes gathered by the opposition stand as an obstacle to this goal. "The regime is clearly following a line outlined by its foreign partners under the slogan: 'Armenia without historical ideas,'" he noted.
In this context, Sharmazanov questioned the opposition's response. He criticized it for failing to utilize legitimate tools of street struggle and for directing its energy into awaiting Constitutional Court decisions, only to be surprised when the authorities begin persecuting individuals one by one.
"I have condemned and continue to condemn all the illegalities of the regime. However, condemnation alone is not enough to solve the problem. Life has shown that the hope that the regime would leave as a result of elections, and without pressure from the streets, has proven futile," he emphasized.
Regarding the Republican Party's role, Sharmazanov addressed citizens asking why they are not taking the initiative: "I will answer that, for objective and subjective reasons, we are not and have not been the 'first violin' of the opposition recently, and we realistically assess our capabilities. Moreover, I have said it before and will say it again: no single force can carry out a change of power alone. The Republican Party of Armenia, before the elections, during the campaign, and afterward, has stated that it is ready to participate, with its modest resources, in the opposition's ongoing anti-government struggle, without any ambitions," Sharmazanov said.