Edmon Marukyan: This parliament to guarantee reproduction of Nikol  Pashinyan in 2031

ArmInfo.Edmon Marukyan, leader of the "Enlightened Armenia" party, proposes forming a new opposition platform outside of parliament that will not strike deals  with the authorities and will serve as a genuine alternative to both  the government and the parliamentary opposition.

According to Marukyan, speaking on his Facebook page, the newly  formed National Assembly began its work with three backroom deals.  First, the parliamentary opposition effectively accepted the  redistribution of the five mandates belonging to the "Prosperous  Armenia" party, taking their own share alongside the authorities. In  doing so, they de facto legitimized the seizure of Prosperous  Armenia's mandates.  Secondly, the opposition participated in the  opening ceremony of the National Assembly session, which took place  in the absence of the Catholicos of All Armenians, despite this being  a legal requirement. The politician noted that the behavior of  "Strong Armenia"—which entered the political arena explicitly to  defend the Armenian Apostolic Church—is particularly  incomprehensible.

Third, Ruben Rubinyan invited the opposition to forget the tensions  of recent years and work with the government in a "civilized" manner.  The authorities will later exploit this offer to justify any new  violence by claiming they offered a peaceful working relationship  which the opposition rejected.

 "In the near future, we may witness a fourth deal: if the opposition  takes up the positions reserved for them as committee chairs. The  Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly provides no real levers of  control.  Without a parliamentary majority, these posts merely serve  as a way to integrate the opposition into the system and destroy  institutional opposition. Continuing down this path will yield  nothing worthwhile. We have already seen all of this play out between  2021 and 2026, and we know how it ends. The ultimate beneficiary of  these deals will once again be Nikol Pashinyan. This parliament will  guarantee the reproduction of Nikol Pashinyan in 2031," the  politician emphasized.