From July 1 to 10, 2020, the “Media Advocate” Initiative followed online media reports on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s personality and activities. 5 news agencies were monitored: 1in.am, azatutyun.am, armtimes.com, aravot.am and tert.am.
According to the monitoring, 295 articles were published on 5 selected websites regarding Nikol Pashinyan. 35 articles of which are negative, 17 are positive and 243 are neutral.
Both negative and positive articles have been published on RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Negative ones prevail.
The head of the “National Agenda” party Avetik Chalabyan, referring to the extension of the state of emergency, noted: “Four weeks ago, when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced his intention to extend the state of emergency, I created a vote on this page, offering all users to express their position in this regard. More than 1800 users took part in the voting, 69% of which were against the extension of the state of emergency, 31% were in favor of it. Now, trying to extend the state of emergency for the fifth time, the government will perhaps try to push forward the next controversial initiatives, there is no lack of them. Furthermore, not having an effective opposition in the National Assembly, the government can continuously keep all of us in a state of emergency and use the pandemic as its formal justification.
Karen Mkhitaryan, the brother of Lieutenant Colonel Ara Mkhitaryan, who is in a coma as a result of a severe beating in Yeghegnadzor, referred to the appointment of Trdat Sargsyan as Chief of Staff of the Criminal Police: “The appointment speaks about the fact that it is not a party, it is a junta, they are promoting their interests, we continue to insist that Trdat Sargsyan was present at the incident, my brother is in a coma, and Trdat is being justified. I personally have not been there, but two lieutenant colonels, a lieutenant and a female witness continue to insist that Trdat Sargsyan was present there. They did not change their testimony. The CC (Civil Contract) junta is led by Nikol Pashinyan, in fact the former governor is under his auspices: “Now we are waiting for the trial, let’s see what they will do. First of all, we are interested in my brother’s recovery.”
The press touched upon the topic of slaughterhouses, noting that they are standing idle: “The owners of the slaughterhouses say that they, relying on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, invested in the construction of slaughterhouses, but now they are standing idle and as a result they are suffering serious financial losses, because, whoever wants, slaughters wherever they want like they used to do before. The law on compulsory slaughterhouse operation came into force on July 1.
The founder of “One Armenia” party Arthur Ghazinyan wrote on his Facebook page: “Yesterday I applied to the RA General Prosecutor’s Office against the 14-page rejection of the appeal submitted by me in order the Special Investigation Service to initiate a criminal case. The complaint includes additional factual data confirming the fact that Nikol Pashinyan, Arsen Torosyan deliberately concealed and distorted information that endangered the life and health of people. The total volume of the complaint is 21 pages in contrast to 7 pages of the report.”
Member of the NA “My Step” fraction, member of the Armenian delegation to the PACE, Azerbaijani studies specialist Tatevik Hayrapetyan, referring to the Artsakh issue and Artsakh elections noted: “Aliyev is very well aware that the RA Prime Minister is making a very legitimate demand. If from the beginning the process started trilaterally and the ceasefire was signed trilaterally, Karabakh is completely part of the conflict, then a legitimate demand is put forward: Where is Karabakh at the negotiation table? Who expresses Karabakh’s voice at the negotiation table, because people of Karabakh do not vote for the Armenian authorities, they elect their authorities and the place of those voters is empty at the negotiation table. Aliyev is horrified by the very thought of how purposefully the Armenian authorities are pushing this issue and constantly talking about it on various international platforms.”
From 88 articles published in armtimes.com, 0 was negative, 4 were positive and 84 were neutral.
The remark of NA deputy Tatevik Hayrapetyan was published by the news agency.
The media outlet also published the results of the polls conducted by the GALLUP International Association: “85% of respondents in the Republic of Armenia approve the activities of RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.”
From 80 articles published in aravot.am, 21 were negative, 3 were positive and 56 were neutral.
Avetik Chalabyan and Arthur Ghazinyan’s opinions have been published by the news agency.
The press, referring to the internal political situation, wrote: “After the victory of the Velvet Revolution, many changes took place in Armenia. In particular, changes took place in the lives of Manvel Grigoryan, Robert Kocharyan, Gagik Tsarukyan and many others, directly related to the attitude and relations of the leader of the revolution Nikol Pashinyan and the above-mentioned persons, Pashinyan’s revolutionary comrades-in-arms and ideologues. “If we consider the presence of the coronavirus in Armenia, we can confidently state that significant changes have taken place not only in the lives of the above-mentioned people and many others, but also in the lives of his revolutionary leader, newly elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in the lives of his revolutionary comrades-in-arms.”
Samvel Farmanyan, referring to GALLUP data, noted that today Nikol Pashinyan has only 11-13% real, factual rating.
Touching upon the topic of state official cars, the press wrote: “The issue of official cars would not be perceived so sharp if opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan had not made such great demands from officials in the past. Pashinyan, though, had read a verdict for the officials: “I want our officials to bent over and feel themselves in the trucks carrying potato every morning, as they force the elder people, women and young girls,” he said.
From 70 articles published in 1in.am, 2 were negative, 10 were positive and 58 were neutral.
The news agency, referring to US-Armenia relations, wrote: “The statement of the White House spokeswoman has received a lot of attention in Armenia. The point is that it actually follows the congratulatory message of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan addressed to the President of the United States Donald Trump on the occasion of the US Independence Day on July 4. This message was not just a congratulatory one. In that message, Nikol Pashinyan touched upon some important issues, hinting that the velvet revolution and the post-revolutionary process are practically within the logic of the fight for independence for Armenia. It is a signal that relations with Armenia, since the establishment of its independence, has always been a key point for the United States.”
In a conversation with 1in.am, political scientist Edvard Antinyan, referring to the Artsakh issue and Nikol Pashinyan’s steps, noted: “Nikol Pashinyan cannot hand over Artsakh. It is impermissible to state every day that “Nikol Pashinyan’s days are counted,” and then say, “Nikol Pashinyan will hand over Artsakh.” A person whose days are counted does not hand over Artsakh. So, decide, whether the days are not counted or you know for sure that if he makes a concession on the Artsakh issue, the days will definitely be counted. What is the purpose? There will be no such thing. And even if the foreign ministers are holding a video conference with the co-chairs and Kasprzyk, you do not see any serious emphasis there. There is no tension, there is no pressure on us. They want to put pressure on us from within, which they actually fail to do.”
From 30 articles published in tert.am, 12 were negative, 0 was positive and 18 were neutral.
The article according to which Trdat Sargsyan was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Criminal Police was posted on the news agency.
The following opinion related to the ECHR statement was published on the news outlet regarding the Constitutional Court: “Of course, the Armenian authorities may not fulfill the decision made by the ECHR to secure the lawsuit, which will already have concrete political consequences in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, with more difficult prospects. Considering the above-mentioned, it can be concluded that the credible legal wing of the RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once again put the government in an awkward position, not deeply predicting the legal consequences.”
From 27 articles published in azatutyun.am, 0 was negative, 0 was positive and 27 were neutral.
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service did not give positive or negative assessment to Nikol Pashinyan’s activities, nor published any material on the Prime Minister’s activities that we could assess as positive or negative.
