Alen Simonyan supports Arman Tatoyan`s narrative

ArmInfo. Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan believes that the Armenian opposition could have been stronger if former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan had not participated in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Recall, at a press conference on November 26, Arman Tatoyan, leader  of the Wings of Unity political initiative and former Armenian  Ombudsman, urged the second and third presidents of Armenia, Robert  Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, not to participate in the parliamentary  elections scheduled for June 7, 2026.  "If they really want Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan to lose in 2026, then they should abstain  from these elections," Tatoyan stated. According to him, the  participation of former presidents in a situation where the Armenian  people have made it clear that they do not want to see them in power  will lead to them becoming nothing more than tools of the current  regime. "By participating, they will essentially ensure the  continuation of Pashinyan's power, which is based on hatred towards  them and the past mistakes they have made," the politician concluded

On November 28, in parliament, referring to the former ombudsman's  statement, Alen Simonyan noted that he somewhat agreed with Arman  Tatoyan.

"It will be a very interesting campaign and struggle if the former  unelected presidents-and I can never consider Serzh Sargsyan and  Robert Kocharyan presidents of the Republic of Armenia, as the  election results did not inspire confidence in anyone-do not  participate. Perhaps then Armenia will have a much stronger  opposition than it does now. But they won't do so because they will  try to somehow gain a foothold in parliament at the expense of former  officials, businessmen, and [Bdeshkhs] in monopolistic positions,"  the NA Speaker stated.

The NA Speaker also commented on Tatoyan's invitation to Armenian  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on 15 On January 1, at 7:00 PM, he was  asked if the authorities, and especially Armenian Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan, were afraid to debate the opposition. "We can't  sleep at night. We call each other and ask, 'Are you awake too?'"  Simonyan joked.

As the Speaker noted, the debates will take place one way or another  if Tatoyan participates in the 2026 parliamentary elections. "It's a  fake agenda that they're afraid of him (Tatoyan - ed.). There is an  institution of debates before elections, established by law. The  issue at hand is status: the current Prime Minister of Armenia cannot  debate with leaders of newly formed political parties. "What if I  were to invite Trump or Putin to the debate?" Alen Simonyan asked.

"Pashinyan prefers to debate with anyone who has the appropriate  status. He debates with all  opposition MPs who attend the government  hour in parliament. However, at some point, they stopped attending,"  he continued. Alen Simonyan suggested that Arman Tatoyan challenge  former Armenian presidents to a debate.