The Kremlin authorities are pursuing a clearly arranged plan to get rid of Armenia’s prime minister″, an opposition politician said on Friday.
In an interview with the Armenian service of RFE/RL (Azatuttyun), Zhirayr Sefilyan, a member of the radical opposition group turned party Sasna Tsrer, said he is under the impression that Russia is now trying to win over Nikol Pashinyan in an attempt to realize its plan “within the shortest possible timeframes”.
‟It was previously planned to oust Serzh [Sargsyan] to bring Karen Karapetyan as his successor [in the capacity of Prime Minister]. But their efforts didn’t succeed. From that moment on, I believe, the Kremlin has been pursuing a decision to get rid of Nikol [Pashinyan] as soon as possible by winning him over and establishing connections with him. But those attempts are pointless given that Russia has been accustomed, for centuries on end, to exercise dominance over this region through its own people. But Nikol Pashinyan is not their man; he doesn’t come from their family,″ Sefilyan noted.
The oppositionist said he thinks that Russia is now using its fifth column in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) as a tool of strong influence. ″If the Kocharyan allies are able to rally hundreds of people today, several thousands may take to streets tomorrow without a special reward,″ he added.