ArmInfo.In 2019, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan demonstrated his ability to hold up well. Leading researcher at the Center for Euro-Atlantic Security, MGIMO Institute for International Studies Sergey Markedonov expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"Last year, the leader of the Velvet Revolution needed to prove his own ability to be not only a tribune and favorite of Yerevan street, but also a politician capable of managing the bureaucracy. Pashinyan simultaneously passed not one, but several exams, because he had to solve internal online and external, socio-economic problems, "he said.
Among Pashinyan's achievements, the analyst noted the consolidation of executive and legislative powers, as well as maintaining the initiative in the domestic political game of foreign policy continuity in relations with Russia. At the same time, the prime minister retained "former authorities" personnel in a number of departments, which made it possible to somewhat balance the consequences of the activities of the "new" ones.
Pashinyan's attack on the "former authorities", whose next object, in addition to second president Robert Kocharyan, was third president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Markedonov describes as unprecedented in the post-Soviet space. According to him, motivated by the fight against corruption, the criminal prosecution of ex-presidents give Pashinyan a lot of points. Nevertheless, at the same time they close to him the same "window to the future" - an opportunity for a conflict-free change of power, in particular, in the event of a drop in the prime minister's rating and a rise in the popularity of his opponents.
In any case, Markedonov is far from seeing Pashinyan's actions as sheer success. In particular, according to his estimates, a number of steps taken by the Armenian prime minister raise, at least, doubts. According to the analyst, the announced massive judicial reform is essentially an attempt to take control of the judiciary through a mixture of revolutionary rhetoric and administrative pressure.
"Apparently, Pashinyan is very dissatisfied with the open support of Robert Kocharyan from the NKR leadership. The Armenian prime minister has already initiated systematic actions to subordinate Stepanakert and it is possible that he will do everything in the presidential election in 2020 to change the power in the NKR to a more predictable and docile, " Markedonov concluded.