Political Scientist: Creating a new atmosphere in the country will  disrupt the ongoing machinery of state lawlessness

ArmInfo.  Only by changing the atmosphere in the country it will  be possible to disrupt the ongoing machine of state lawlessness, as was stated by Vahe  Hovhannisyan, political scientist and co-founder of the Alternative  Projects Group, when addressing the wave of arrests of government  opponents ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections.

He clarified that Armenian authorities actions  are in the logic of a  lack of chances for regeneration, and therefore the ruling party is  pursuing the path of creating "different conditions." "All the steps  it has already taken and will take-arrests, repression, social  bribery, false promises, foreign policy adventures, boundless  populism, and everything else-will be carried out within the  framework of this logic," Hovhannisyan believes.

In this regard, he is confident that opposition forces must take  several actions to prevent this wave of government lawlessness. First  and foremost, as the political scientist noted, it is necessary to  understand that this is not an election process, and therefore, to  adopt a completely different approach. "This means developing a  system of struggle. Of course, rallies, marches, and statements are  also important, but they are not part of the system; they are merely  tools. We also need to have backup options ready, that is, to  understand how to adapt and respond to different situations depending  on how events unfold. Furthermore, we need to develop an action plan  reducing the government's ability to create 'new conditions.' And we  need to calculate our own favorable 'conditions' to move in this  direction," the expert noted. 

He emphasized the importance of generating a broad public demand for  change, as well as motivating voters and various segments of society  to fight for change. According to Hovhannisyan, the atmosphere will  determine everything in this case. "The government will do  everything, both possible and impossible.  However, it is not  omnipotent; it does not have unlimited resources for lawlessness. It  has the tools of force and propaganda, which it skillfully uses,  crossing all red lines. This is possible due to the current  atmosphere in the country, namely, resignation without resistance. By  changing the atmosphere, we can disrupt the ongoing machine of state  lawlessness," the political scientist noted.

Hovhannisyan emphasized that this was long overdue. However, those  who possess political and other resources in Armenia unfortunately  lack strategic thinking leading to sporadic activity. "Therefore,  newly emerging movements must not repeat the mistakes of the past.  Meanwhile, today, just one street away from a rally of thousands,  life is completely different. But this doesn't mean there are bad  people on that street; it only means that a different approach to  working with these people is needed," the expert believes.

The political scientist noted that the current government is making  mistakes and expressed his conviction that more mistakes will occur  in the future. He emphasized that  the task of organized  counter-camps is to capitalize on these mistakes with a clear system.  In particular, as Hovhannisyan emphasized, it is necessary to  ultimately understand that the current struggle is not for votes or  numbers, but for the atmosphere. "The atmosphere surrounding the  elections will be completely different,  not like what we see  today.  The government will try to impose its conditions by any means, even  with external support. We, however, must start fighting now to ensure  that these conditions and atmosphere are in our favor. Our slogans,  systems, actions, processes, alliances, and political messages for  domestic and foreign audiences should all work towards changing the  current situation in the country. If we can change the atmosphere of  defeat and capitulation, the formation of a new government will be  inevitable," Hovhannisyan concluded.