Nikol Pashinyan
Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (Armenian: Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան,[a] pronounced [nikɔl pʰɑʃinˈjɑn]; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018.[b] A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1998, which was shut down a year later for libel. He was sentenced for one year for defamation against then Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan. He edited the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak ("Armenian Times") from 1999 to 2012. A supporter of Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, he was highly critical of second president Robert Kocharyan, Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, and their allies.[1] Pashinyan was also critical of Armenia's close relations with Russia, and promoted establishing closer relations with Turkey instead.[2] He led a minor opposition party in the 2007 parliamentary election, garnering 1.3% of the vote.
Nikol Pashinyan
Karen Karapetyan (acting)
Way Out Alliance (2012–2017)
Armenian National Congress (2017–2018)
Yerevan Districts Kentron, Nork-Marash, Erebuni, Nubarashen
1 June 1975
Ijevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
Civil Contract (2013–present)
My Step Alliance (2018–2021)
Way Out Alliance (2016–2018)
Armenian National Congress (2008–2012)
Impeachment Union (2007)
4
Pashinyan was a dedicated supporter of Ter-Petrosyan, who made a political comeback prior to the 2008 presidential election, before losing to Serzh Sargsyan in what Ter-Petrosyan and his supporters claimed was a fraudulent election. Pashinyan was one of the leaders of Ter-Petrosyan's supporters in the post-election protests in February and March 2008; the protests were dispersed by security forces on March 1, resulting in the deaths of ten people.[3] Convicted of organizing mass disorders, he went into hiding until mid-2009. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the protests. He was released in May 2011 as part of a general amnesty. He was elected to parliament from Ter-Petrosyan's broad opposition coalition, the Armenian National Congress, in 2012.
Pashinyan later distanced himself from Ter-Petrosyan on political grounds, establishing the party Civil Contract. Along with two other opposition parties, Pashinyan formed the Way Out Alliance which garnered almost 8% of the vote in the 2017 parliamentary election. He was the leader of the 2018 Armenian revolution which forced Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and his government to resign. He was elected acting prime minister by parliament on 8 May 2018 and won snap parliamentary elections in December 2018.[4][5] Pashinyan's victory had originally been heralded by some observers as an improvement in democracy,[6] while others have criticized Pashinyan as a mere populist.[7] Pashinyan's new government included multiple liberal western NGO activists being appointed to senior positions,[8] as well as supporters from the Velvet Revolution who had no previous political experience.[9][10]
Pashinyan led Armenia through the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, the most recent and significant outbreak of violence due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia with the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh and its neighbor Azerbaijan. The war, which was ended after 44 days of fighting by a trilateral ceasefire agreement signed by Pashinyan on 9 November 2020, resulted in significant human, material and territorial losses for the Armenian side. Pashinyan's government was criticized within Armenia for its management of the war.[11] Following the war, Pashinyan was accused of being a traitor and faced protests and calls for his resignation.[12] Despite the protests and a declaration by 40 high-ranking military officers calling for his resignation (which Pashinyan described as a coup attempt), Pashinyan resisted calls to hand over political power.[13][14] On 25 April 2021, Pashinyan announced his formal resignation to allow snap elections to be held in June, although he remained as acting prime minister in the leadup to the elections.[15] His party won the 2021 election, receiving more than half of all votes.[16]
Early life and education
Nikol Pashinyan was born on 1 June 1975 in Ijevan, in the northeastern province of Tavush. At least one of his grandparents was from the village of Yenokavan, around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Ijevan.[17] He was named after his paternal grandfather who died in World War II.[18] He served in the 554th Rifle Regiment of the 138th Rifle Division and died in 1943.[19] His father, Vova Pashinyan (1940–2020),[20] worked as a football and volleyball coach and as a physical education teacher.[21] His mother Svetlana died when he was 12 and he was mostly raised by his stepmother, Yerjanik, who was Vova's second wife.[22] He graduated from the Ijevan Secondary School N1 in 1991.[23] In 2018, Pashinyan claimed to have organized students strikes, marches and demonstrations during the Karabakh movement of 1988.[24] He did not serve in the Armenian Army because his two elder brothers served before him and he was not obliged to serve by law.[25][26] Pashinyan studied journalism at Yerevan State University (YSU) from 1991 to 1995. He was expelled from the university before graduating. Pashinyan claimed to have been expelled for his political activities,[27] although Yerevan State University released a statement that Pashinyan had been expelled due to absences.[28] In a 2015 interview Pashinyan stated that he considers himself more of a journalist because journalism brought him into politics.[21]
Break with Ter-Petrosyan
In October 2012, Pashinyan publicly denounced any potential ANC collaboration with Gagik Tsarukyan and his Prosperous Armenia party. Ter-Petrosyan argued that through a cooperation with Tsarukyan, the ANC would be able to depose Serzh Sargsyan. Pashinyan stated he "did not find a compromise with March 1 criminals possible" in a reference to ex-president Kocharyan who was thought to be supportive of Tsarukyan. Regarding the 2013 presidential election, he believed that Ter-Petrosyan would nominate his candidacy and "all those who want to defeat Serzh Sargsyan can defend Levon Ter-Petrosyan's candidacy."[3]
After Ter-Petrosyan declined to be a presidential candidate, Pashinyan did not endorse any candidate. However, following the election, he showed outspoken support for the official runner-up, Raffi Hovannisian. He stated, "The current political situation is more than clear. People trust the leader of the Heritage party, Raffi Hovannisian, who must present to the society his vision regarding the further developments. My assistance to the further programs of Raffi Hovannisian will depend on their political and civil contents. Bringing the Armenian people to real victories is the goal that I have always served and will continue to serve."[138] In the post-election protests, Pashinyan joined Hovannisian at Freedom Square, where he called the latter the "elected president", claiming the elections were rigged by Sargsyan's government.[139] Pashinyan stated at the 20 February rally that the end results of the protests depends on Hovannisian's "determination" and ability to "address the people without puzzles. The people of Armenia cannot be led to a defeat or disappointment. Victory or northing! Victory and nothing else!"[140]
Pashinyan eventually severed ties with Ter-Petrosyan's ANC over the latter's pursuit of cooperation with Tsarukyan's party, although he remained nominally a member of the ANC's faction in parliament.[141]
Views
Ideology
Throughout his political career, Pashinyan has positioned himself as a post-ideological politician.[250] At a 2016 lecture at the American University of Armenia, Pashinyan stated that "Political ideologies have yielded their position to challenges."[251] His critics have pointed to his perceived lack of clear ideology as a weakness.[252][253] Western sources have described Pashinyan as centrist,[254] progressive,[255] and a liberal democrat.[256] Throughout the 2018 protests, Pashinyan and his allies "used somewhat populist rhetoric with leftist overtones, rallying against corrupt elites and advocating for social justice."[257] According to Arsen Kharatyan, one of his allies, Pashinyan advocates meritocracy and egalitarianism.[258]
Political scientist Nerses Kopalyan compared Pashinyan to Emmanuel Macron and classified him as a radical centrist, or better, an "aggressive centrist." According to Kopalyan, Pashinyan supports liberal policies such as strong support for civic society, women's rights, social funding for education, public programs, and a strong emphasis on poverty alleviation and generally conservative policies such as his "obsession with law and order, and an unyielding application of the law to its fullest," austerity-based economic policies, and tax brackets for middle-class businesses.[259] Both newspapers edited by Pashinyan, Oragir and Haykakan Zhamanak, were considered by foreign observers as liberal.[260][261][262] Anahit Shirinyan, a fellow at Chatham House, suggested that the first Pashinyan government's "overall stance is liberal."[250] Pashinyan has distanced himself from the liberal label. He believes that "-isms" have lost their significance by citing the example of China, which "has combined communism and private property."[263][264] In a 1 May 2018 speech at the National Assembly, Pashinyan stated: "I don't consider myself a liberal. In the modern world, 'isms' have lost the meanings they used to have. Now is the era of securing a person's happiness, and it's not the 'isms' but people's happiness and freedom that matter."[250]
Economy
Left-leaning observers, such as Garen Yegparian and Markar Melkonian, have characterized Pashinyan and his government as economically neoliberal.[265][266] In September 2018, Pashinyan proposed a 23% flat tax on all incomes and gradually decreasing it 0.5% per year to 20%.[267] It was approved by parliament in June 2019 and came into force in 2020.[268]
Pashinyan has advocated less taxes for small business, downsizing the government by reducing number of ministries and state agencies, and introduce tax breaks for foreign business willing to invest in Armenia.[269]
Human rights policy
After a Facebook user posted a photo mocking Pashinyan in March 2021, a law was passed on 5 October 2021 that tripled the amount of money for "insults" and "defamation" fines. This was criticized by the Union of Journalists of Armenia, European Federation of Journalists, and International Federation of Journalists as violation of the right of freedom of expression.[270]
During an 8 June 2021 speech for the upcoming Armenian parliamentary election, Pashinyan brandished a hammer around while threatening to "throw on the ground" and "bang against the wall" opposition supporters. Human rights defender Arman Tatoyan criticized Pashinyan's behavior and stated, "this unacceptable rhetoric is associated with mass violations of human rights".[245][246]
In November 2021, a criminal case was filed against Karabakh war veteran Manuel Manukyan for calling Pashinyan a "a cat on a trash can" in a Facebook post.[271]
In April 2022, Pashinyan's Civil Contract party lost the mayor of Vanadzor election, winning only 25% of the votes while former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanyan won 39% of the votes. Aslanyan was arrested on corruption charges 10 days after the election, and a law was passed that allowed Pashinyan to name an acting mayor. Aslanyan and other opposition figures condemned the charges as being politically motivated.[272]
On 26 April 2022, a police vehicle in Pashinyan's motorcade struck and killed 29-year-old pregnant woman Sona Mnatsakanyan. The vehicle continued driving without stopping after the collision. Mnatsakanyan and her unborn child were pronounced dead at a hospital 1.5 hours later.[273]
Personal life
Pashinyan is married to Anna Hakobyan, a journalist whom he met at YSU. They have three daughters and a son. She has been editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak since 2012.[380] Pashinyan and Hakobyan are not officially married, nor did they have a church ceremony. Pashinyan stated that he hopes they can get married at an Armenian Apostolic church one day.[21] Their son, Ashot, volunteered to serve in Artsakh (Karabakh) in 2018 and again in October 2020 during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.[381][382]
Besides his native Armenian, Pashinyan speaks Russian,[383] English,[384] and French.[385][386] However, he prefers to use Armenian in interviews.
Pashinyan said that he and his family are adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church. "One must visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from time to time. This is also the most convenient place to reflect on the past and the future," he stated.[345]
In June 2020, he announced that he and his whole family contracted COVID-19 and will self isolate at the Prime Minister's Residence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia.[387]
While campaigning for the 2021 Armenian parliamentary election, Pashinyan declared an offer to exchange his son Ashot for all of the Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan.[388] The exchange was never made.