Analyst: The primary issue with Armenia`s new Parliament Speaker`s  speech  lies is its one-sided interpretation of the causes of the  political crisis

ArmInfo.The core issue with the speech of the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament of the 9th convocation, Ruben Rubinyan, to the new National Assembly lies in his one-sided interpretation of the causes of the political crisis.  Analyst Tigran Dumikyan expressed this opinion on his Facebook page.

As the expert recalled, in his speech Rubinyan emphasized the need to  restore parliamentary political culture, calling on deputies to  overcome the stereotype that parliament has turned into an arena for  meaningless disputes, insults, and disrespectful rhetoric. "According  to his assessment, such an atmosphere took shape as early as 2018,  but it escalated sharply after the 2020 war, when the opposition  refused to accept the trust the people placed in the authorities. In  this context, Rubinyan urged the parliamentary opposition to start  relations from 'zero point,' guided by the principles of human  decency and mutual respect. However, the fundamental problem with  Rubinyan's speech lies in its one-sided interpretation of the causes  of the political crisis," Dumikyan noted.

The analyst believes that the newly elected speaker of the Armenian  parliament is thus attempting to pin the roots of parliamentary  tension exclusively on the opposition's refusal to recognize election  results.  According to Dumikyan, this thesis is not only subjective,  but also fails to reflect the full picture of ongoing processes. As  the expert explained, the degradation of parliamentary culture and  the violation of political correctness boundaries cannot be viewed  solely as the consequence of a deliberate choice made by the  opposition.

 "In essence, they formed as a result of the policies pursued by the  authorities. Political contradictions deepened against the backdrop  of events that had severe consequences for national issues: the  defeat in the 44-day war of 2020, the complete exodus of the Armenian  population of Artsakh, the occupation of part of Armenia's sovereign  territory, the authorities' unilateral, yielding policy in  negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, their opposing stance toward  the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), as well as the consistent  application of legal and administrative pressure against opponents.  In addition, the pressure exerted on the three main opposition forces  during the recent parliamentary elections and the uneven use of  administrative and political resources significantly heightened  public distrust in the electoral processes," the analyst noted.

He believes that these circumstances cannot be ignored when  discussing the causes of the parliamentary crisis. He also notes that  the obvious contradiction between Rubinyan's call and the  post-election rhetoric of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  deserves special attention. "In the post-election period, Pashinyan  has repeatedly made harsh statements against the opposition, citing  arrests, criminal liability, and property seizures. In such a  political environment, it's difficult to expect the opposition to  accept the government's proposed 'zero point' as a basis for sincere  dialogue.

Thus, Rubinyan's appeal to restore parliamentary culture is more of  an attempt to influence public perception than an acknowledgment of  the real causes of the crisis. Crises formed around national  security, statehood, territorial losses, political trust, and  relations between the authorities and the opposition cannot be  overcome merely through rhetorical appeals as long as a political and  institutional assessment of their causes is absent. And it does not  matter how many times the authorities have been re-elected or what  percentage of votes the opposition received," Dumikyan concluded.