Wednesday, June 23 2021 14:35

ArmInfo. In general, the victory of Nikol Pashinyan's party in the early elections in Armenia is natural, expected and therefore predictable.

The only thing that is surprising is the rather powerful preponderance of votes, especially  in light of the recent defeat of Armenia in the war with Azerbaijan.  A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by a leading researcher at  MGIMO of the Russian Foreign Ministry, editor-in-chief of the  International Analytics magazine Sergei Markedonov.  According to the  preliminary results of the early parliamentary elections held on June  20 in Armenia, after the CEC counted votes from all 2008 polling  stations, the acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan's  party "Civil Contract" won - 53.92% - 687,251 votes. Pashinyan won in  all regions of Armenia.

"Back in February, numerous protests against Pashinyan were held in  Armenia. But they did not grow from quantity to quality, which should  have already made the organizers think. The opposition did not manage  to consolidate, as a result of which the protests finally fizzled out  in the spring. Meanwhile, Pashinyan responded by using the old good  strategy - "the formers" against the "currents", periodically  reminding the electorate, of course, in his favor, "as it was  before," he noted.

An important factor in the defeat of the opposition, the analyst  considers the absence of new faces in its ranks, and a new  constructive agenda and proposals for the electorate. In this light,  he noted that the opposition was not able to offer something  different from the post-war realities in Artsakh. Even if you have a  corresponding desire. In this light, the victory of the "Armenia"  bloc, the victory of Robert Kocharian in the foreign policy agenda  and policy of the country, in his opinion, would not change anything.

Markedonov regards the order of countries that Pashinyan thanked for  the support provided to Armenia and the Armenian people as a kind of  indicator of foreign policy trends under Pashinyan 2.0. In this  light, he noted that first of all the Armenian Prime Minister thanked  Russia, and only then the USA, France, EU, Iran and Georgia. After  that, he announced his intentions to further develop cooperation with  Moscow within the framework of the EAEU and the CSTO.

"This very clear answer of the Armenian prime minister to those who  accuse him of a pro-Western orientation naturally indicates the  absence of prospects for negative changes in relations with Russia  after the latest elections. In Moscow, Pashinyan is often accused of  contacts with Western politicians, which is regarded as a departure  from the pro-Russian line. But let us then remember that under  President Serzh Sargsyan Armenia was on the verge of signing an  Association Agreement with the EU and signed a Comprehensive  Partnership Agreement with Brussels, "the analyst recalled.

Assessing Pashinyan as a rather difficult, rather extravagant partner  for Moscow, Markedonov emphasized the absence of a challenge to  Russia in the actions of the Armenian prime minister. In this light,  he stressed the absence over the past three years of statements from  Yerevan in favor of even a hypothetical choice of Euro-Atlantic  values. According to his forecasts, such statements will not be heard  from Yerevan under Pashinyan in the future. At the same time, all  these tendencies by no means mean that Yerevan will now refuse to  communicate with the West.