RPA and Serzh Sargsyan: Hypocrisy Under the Guise of Consolidation
Every word about “consolidation” coming from the Republican Party of Armenia sounds like a cynical mockery. It was the Republicans, led by Serzh Sargsyan, who eroded Armenia’s political system from within for decades, turning it into a field of chronic distrust, intrigues, and irresponsibility. For them, consolidation is not about uniting the country, but about covering up their own hypocrisy.
A striking example is the recent statement by Tigran Abrahamyan calling for the “impeachment” of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. On paper, it looked like a bold step; in practice, it was an empty political performance. There are not enough parliamentary votes to make it happen, but it serves well as a PR campaign and an imitation of activity. This is a classic RPA tactic: to create the illusion of movement and turbulence while doing nothing in reality.
Consequently, they are not speaking about a real strategy for changing power, but staging political theater. A loud “impeachment” initiative with no chance of success is a classic tactic of imitating vigorous activity.
However, even that proved insufficient for them. At the same time, the Republican Party used this story to exert pressure on another opposition force, the alliance of the second president, Robert Kocharyan.
Instead of uniting, the opposition faced yet another wave of internal struggle for influence. Consolidation?
The RPA’s policy is a school of cynicism. Under the leadership of Serzh Sargsyan, the country witnessed how power was transformed into an instrument for personal enrichment and preservation, even at the cost of betraying national interests.
Eduard Sharmazanov and Armen Ashotyan made loud statements about the risks in May 2018 when discussing Nikol Pashinyan’s candidacy for the post of prime minister, but they failed to act when the moment came and betrayed their own words. Their speeches in parliament warned about real threats, yet their actions were the opposite: the RPA, following the instruction of Serzh Sargsyan, voted in favor of Pashinyan, which foredoomed the country to catastrophe and chaos - developments that soon unfolded in full. The Public Tribunal addressed this in detail in the article entitled: “Servants of Traitors. Part 2. What Is Armen Ashotyan Silent About?”
After the defeat in the 44-day war, the RPA once again revealed its true face. During the 2021 election campaign, Sargsyan made public an audio recording in which Pashinyan allegedly “behaved stupidly,” expecting it to damage the authorities’ approval rating. In fact, Pashinyan’s approval rating increased. Was that an accident? The Public Tribunal does not think so.
Today, anyone capable of logical thinking can see the true face of the Republican Party in the protests of recent years. Their role was extremely cynical: to encourage public uprising, ignite hope in people’s hearts, and then deliberately kill the protests, deepening public disappointment and apathy.
The municipal elections in Gyumri revealed the RPA’s true face once again. When the opposition tried to unite around a single candidate for the post of mayor, the RPA, led by Martun Grigoryan, not only torpedoed the process but also split the forces, undermined public trust, and carried out political sabotage. For the Republican Party, “success” has never meant the country’s victory or a way out of the situation into which they themselves drove the country.
The RPA’s motto is simple and cynical: either us or Nikol Pashinyan. Any force capable of genuinely competing with Pashinyan immediately becomes a target for discrediting, manipulation, and political games.
The leader of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, pointed to this logic in a conversation with journalist Karpis Pashoyan. He openly said that he criticizes the third president, Serzh Sargsyan, more than anyone else, considering him one of the key figures responsible for the collapse of the opposition. According to the archbishop, he was referring not only to Gyumri but to the entire political atmosphere in the country.
“Serzh Sargsyan’s approach is limited to the following: either I return to power, or Nikol remains in power,” Archbishop Ajapahyan said.
When reminded that Sargsyan had previously pledged not to seek power again, the archbishop responded with irony that Sargsyan had made many loud statements before: he promised not to become prime minister again, said he would be the first passenger on a Yerevan–Stepanakert flight, assured that Armenia would become a center for AIDS treatment, and declared that the country was moving toward the European Union. In reality, Armenia found itself in the Eurasian Economic Union overnight.
The RPA’s current efforts to “consolidate” the opposition are a mockery of common sense. They return to the political arena not to correct the mistakes of the past, but to continue undermining the country from within under the banner of pleasant statements.
The history of recent years clearly shows that this party and its leaders - Serzh Sargsyan, Eduard Sharmazanov, and Armen Ashotyan - are systemic destroyers of the state. They have turned politics into an instrument of personal survival and intrigue. Any calls for “consolidation” coming from them are a cynical performance, a distraction, a mask meant to conceal their unwillingness to acknowledge their mistakes and their readiness to continue undermining the country in order to retain their positions and fulfill the tasks assigned by their Western patrons. Trusting their words and initiatives is impossible until they are held accountable for the past. The RPA remains a threat to the unification of the opposition, and their calls for “consolidation” are nothing but hypocrisy.
