Pashinyan Still On ‘Revolution’ High
Three months after a “Velvet Revolution” of sorts toppled President Serzh Sarkisian and brought opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan to power, Armenians remain optimistic about the future.
The problem is, now comes the hard part.
The 43-year-old prime minister and former journalist Pashinian called on Armenians to mark his first 100 days in office by returning on August 17 to Republic Square in central Yerevan, where tens of thousands rallied to protest against corruption and cronyism, forcing the ouster of Sarkisian in May.
Since taking power, Pashinian has publicly made a priority of peeling back the layers of the old guard that had basically ruled the country since it left the Soviet Union in 1991, including the detention of former President Robert Kocharian, who is awaiting trial on charges of “overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order.”
He’s also traveled to Brussels and other foreign capitals to meet with key leaders to assure them Armenia has a stable administration that is interested in more than just settling old scores with previous regimes.
But even Pashinian knows the real work is yet to come.
“At this stage, you need very fast and effective reforms for the country’s economy to be launched with a new spirit, new speed, and within the context of the budget discussions,” Pashinian told journalists on August 16.
national debt that reached $6.5 billion at the end of the first half of the year, or about 56 percent of economic output, compared with $1.5 billion a decade earlier.
Armenia is dependent on Russia for security through a defense pact in the Caucasus region, where simmering tensions can boil over at any moment.