Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan, born on June 1, 1975, is an Armenian politician currently serving as the 16th Prime Minister of Armenia since May 8, 2018. His career spans journalism, political activism, and leadership during critical periods in Armenia's history.
Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia
Early Life and Education
Nikol Pashinyan was born 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. He was named after his paternal grandfather who died in World War II. His father, Vova Pashinyan (1940-2020), worked as a football and volleyball coach and as a physical education teacher. His mother Svetlana died when he was 12 and he was mostly raised by his stepmother, Yerjanik, who was Vova's second wife. He graduated from the Ijevan Secondary School N1 in 1991. In 2018, Pashinyan claimed to have organized students strikes, marches and demonstrations during the Karabakh movement of 1988. 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. From 1991 to 1995, Pashinyan studied journalism at Yerevan State University (YSU) but was expelled before graduating.
Early Career as a Journalist
Pashinyan became engaged in journalism in 1992 as a journalism student at YSU. He worked at the newspapers Dprutyun, Hayastan, Lragir, and Molorak. Pashinyan founded the daily Oragir ("Diary") in 1998, affiliated with the Nor Ughi ("New Path") opposition party led by former Minister of Education Ashot Bleyan.
During the 1999 parliamentary election Oragir was highly critical of Country of Legality, the party of Serzh Sargsyan, then Minister of the Interior and National Security, and the Right and Accord Bloc led by Artashes Geghamyan and supported by Samvel Babayan, the powerful defense minister of Nagorno-Karabakh. During the election Oragir published 281 articles on political parties participating in the election, of which 11 were positive.
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In August 1999 Pashinyan was sentenced to one year in prison after refusing to pay a libel fine of around $25,000. He was also ordered to retract his accusations against Serzh Sargsyan and Mika-Armenia, a large trading company which the court had ruled constituted defamation. The properties of Oragir were confiscated and its bank accounts frozen. According to Simon Payaslian, the case made Pashinyan the "first journalist prosecuted for libel in post-Soviet Armenia." His conviction was criticized by Armenian and foreign human rights activists. Human rights defender Avetik Ishkhanian noted that "In 1999 almost as many cases were brought against Oragir as against all newspapers of Armenia from 1994 till 1998.
On 22 November 2004, a Lada Niva car belonging to Pashinyan, parked outside the office of Haykakan Zhamanak exploded. The fire caused by the explosion was put out by firefighters. Pashinyan claimed it was an attack perpetrated by Gagik Tsarukyan, an oligarch and MP close to president Robert Kocharyan who was deputy chairman of the Armenian Olympic Committee (AOC). He suggested it may have been a retaliation for a "derogatory cartoon" deploring the poor performance of Armenian athletes at the Athens Olympics. The newspaper staff believed it was hit by a Molotov cocktail or an improvised explosive device. A police inquiry immediately pointed to an apparent "breakdown of the car battery's wires." Tsarukyan denied any involvement.
Political Career
Pashinyan entered the political scene prior to the 2007 parliamentary election. He led the Impeachment Union, an electoral bloc consisting of his political organization named "Alternative" and the Democratic Fatherland and Conservative parties, led by former HHSh MP Petros Makeyan and Mikayel Hayrapetyan, respectively. The primary policy goal of the bloc was impeaching President Robert Kocharyan, but also ousting Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan from power.
On 20 February 2007, their first rally at Yerevan's Freedom Square drew around 1,000 people, which prompted RFE/RL to note that Ter-Petrosyan's allies have a "persisting lack of public support." The bloc offered a liberal alternative to the policies of Kocharyan. Pashinyan stated at the rally: "We have come to this square to say that we are the masters of our country, the masters of its misery and splendor, its heroism and recklessness, its victories and defeats.
On 9 May 2007, three days before the election, the Impeachment Union, along with the Hanrapetutyun Party and the New Times party, organized a march to the National Security Service building to demand the release of ex-foreign minister Alexander Arzumanyan, whom they considered a political prisoner. It led to clashes, where policemen beat members of the opposition with batons and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Pashinyan told the crowd: "Victory is not achieved at once. Victory is achieved step by step. Today we took a very important step towards our victory.
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In July 2007, Pashinyan stated that the opposition can prevent vote rigging and defeat Serzh Sargsyan, the likely 2008 presidential successor of Kocharyan, only if they unite around a single presidential candidate. Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Armenia's first president, made a comeback on 21 September 2007 - appearing publicly for the first time since his resignation in 1998. Pashinyan and Haykakan Zhamanak expressed support for Ter-Petrosyan.
Pashinyan was detained with several others for less than a day after an altercation with police officers on 16 October 2007 when a group of Ter-Petrosyan's supporters were announcing an upcoming rally over a loudspeaker. Pashinyan was again detained on 23 October along with other activists. They were taken into custody after a brawl with policemen led by Aleksandr Afyan, deputy chief of the Yerevan police, during a march through the center of Yerevan to inform passersby about Ter-Petrosyan's upcoming rally. Police accused opposition activists of disrupting public order, while Pashinyan stated that Afyan "behaved like a street criminal." Pashinyan, along with other activists, were released the next day when Ter-Petrosyan himself negotiated with Afyan.
On 30 October Pashinyan was charged with participation in mass riots and "violence against a representative of the authorities." Pashinyan did not show up to the police station. His house was searched by police officers who did not find him there. Pashinyan claimed the increasing attacks on opposition activists was due to the growing number of Ter-Petrosyan supporters. He said, "The authorities realize that events are taking a dangerous turn for them.
On election day, 19 February 2008, the Ter-Petrosyan camp claimed numerous violations and cases of violence, while Pashinyan put responsibility for any possible violence on the "ruling regime." He called the election an "attempt at a criminal coup d'etat" and claimed that Ter-Petrosyan had won in the first round.
Post-Election Protests and Imprisonment
Pashinyan was one of the most prominent orators during the post-election protests in late February. On 21 February, when Ter-Petrosyan's supporters set up tents at Freedom Square, Pashinyan declared the square to be the central headquarters of Ter-Petrosyan. He declared, "We expect our legitimate demands to be met. Our actions will be peaceful as long as all we have not exhausted all legal methods of struggle.
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Although Ter-Petrosyan's camp disputed the election results, international observers deemed the election to be largely fair and democratic. A vote-monitoring mission by the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the European Parliament stating: "The February 19 presidential election in the Republic of Armenia was administered mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards.
Ter-Petrosyan's supporters gathered at Myasnikyan Square, near the French Embassy and Yerevan City Hall where Pashinyan became the main orator. Ter-Petrosyan was put under house arrest. In late afternoon, Pashinyan called on the crowd to reinforce the barricades around the square and "boost their self-defense" in case of a police attack. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported that "Many protesters were already armed with metal and wooden sticks and sounded bullish about taking on security forces. Some held truncheons and shields seized from riot police." Pashinyan called on the crowd to stay calm and not to communicate with the police.
RFE/RL also noted that there are no "demonstrators carrying weapons." Later in the evening, after around 20,000 people had gathered at Myasnikyan Square, government forces began an assault against the protesters by firing rounds into the air to disperse them. Pashinyan urged people to stay.
In March 2018, Pashinyan asked the Prosecutor General of Armenia to subpoena Kocharyan for questioning for the events of 1 March 2008 and the latter's order to use force. Kocharyan's spokesman Viktor Soghomonyan responded calling Pashinyan "the main provocateur and organizer of the 1 March 2008 disturbances." In his 2018 memoir, Kocharyan heavily criticized Pashinyan.
Pashinyan went into hiding on 2 March as the violent post-election demonstrations were dispersed by government forces, resulting in the deaths of ten people. In March 2018 he publicly announced the details of his escape from the scene of demonstrations in the night of 2 March 2008. In hiding, Pashinyan continued regularly writing commentaries in Haykakan Zhamanak. In his writings, Pashinyan claimed to be travelling around the world with a fake Serbian passport. In 2009, he stated at a court that his accounts about supposed adventures were a piece of literary fiction.
In October 2008, he wrote that the authorities have proved that only through a revolution can rule of law, civil rights and free economic competition be established in Armenia. He stated that he believes in a "bloodless and peaceful" revolution and stressed that it depends on the authorities.
In late June 2009, Pashinyan declared that he had decided to come out of hiding after a general amnesty was declared by the government. He stated, "I conclude with pride that it is now my turn to become a political prisoner. My decision to move from underground to prison is also driven by a concern about effective political struggle. The struggle needs fresh impetus. Some of my political prisoner comrades will give that impetus after regaining their freedom, while I hope to do that after finding myself in prison." Pashinyan arrived at the General Prosecutor's Office on 1 July 2009 and surrendered himself. Entering the building, Pashinyan told surprised officers: "Hello.
Pashinyan's trial began on 20 October 2009. In his first speech, Pashinyan called his trial a "continuation of political repressions." The verdict was delivered on 19 January 2010 by the court of the general jurisdiction of the communities of Kentron and Nork-Marash in Yerevan. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for "organizing mass disorders" on 1-2 March 2008.
On 18 January 2022, the European Court of Human Rights issued a verdict in the case of Pashinyan v. Armenia submitted in 2010, concerning the 2008 presidential elections, recognising the violation of Pashinyan's rights to freedom of assembly and expression, personal integrity, liberty and security during the events of 2008, when he was still an oppositionist and got arrested on charges of organizing mass riots and sentenced to seven years.
In late October 2009, Pashinyan declared his intention to run for a seat in the parliament in the 10th constituency, a single-member district that covered the center of Yerevan. The election, held on 10 January 2010, returned a low turnout of just 24%.
Pashinyan was released from Artik prison on 27 May 2011 in accordance with the general amnesty declared by the government. Greeting a crowd of supporters gathered outside the gates, he declared "Our struggle is unstoppable, our victory inevitable." He was released along with Sasun Mikayelyan, a Karabakh War veteran and an ally of Ter-Petrosyan.
On 31 May 2011, the ANC held a rally at Freedom Square for the first time since the 1 March events. Ter-Petrosyan called for talks with the government. Pashinyan speaking at a rally for the first time since the 1 March 2008 events declared, "From today on we start a political process in favour of early presidential and parliamentary elections, because only they may return people's faith in its future." Ter-Petrosyan considered Pashinyan's release an unprecedented victory.
Pashinyan, in an interview, said that either snap election "will take place as a result of the dialogue" between the ANC and the government or they will take place under "popular pressure." He called for an early presidential election which would be an "opportunity for a smooth resignation of power." After failed talks with the government, Pashinyan called for a revolution.
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