Pashinyan Tells His Team 'Against the Wall' Over Abovyan Elections

The newspaper 'Hraparak' reports that despite claims from the ruling party, the recent elections were anything but fair. Just two days before the election, a harsh speech from Nikol Pashinyan during a meeting of the old leadership left a significant impact. According to our sources, during discussions about their defeat in Abovyan, Pashinyan told his team that they are no different from the former ruling Republican Party (RPA) and are driven by personal interests while lacking team-oriented thinking. He emphasized that such behavior cannot continue, and those who persist in it will have no place in their team.

No names were mentioned, but it was clearly directed at Sassoon Mikayelyan, who, due to discrepancies with Governor Romanos Petrosyan, did not support their candidate.

In the ruling party, it is believed that a faction of younger members has been working against the veterans, including Sassoon Mikayelyan, Ararat Mirzoyan, and Alen Simonyan, leading to serious 'counter-campaigning' against them. The principal figure behind this effort was Vilen Gabrielian, known on Facebook as 'Navak Chokhogh'. He presented this work as having Pashinyan's 'blessing'.

The campaign's leitmotif suggested that these individuals had become too arrogant and needed to be put in their place. An interesting atmosphere was evident during the first meeting of the new leadership; when the presidency was discussed, everyone unanimously proposed Pashinyan himself, but he declined, suggesting that he would not accept the position. Subsequently, a significant majority of the members put forward Suren Papikyan's candidacy, while only Mkhtiar Hayrapetyan supported Ararat Mirzoyan, who also announced his self-withdrawal.

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.