Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking during a Facebook livestream, described his party’s landslide victory in the local government elections and said Armenia must develop a new, state-oriented opposition.

He declared that the “three-headed party of war has been destroyed, as we can see from the local election results.”

Following the October 25 local government elections held in 19 Armenian communities, the ruling Civil Contract party emerged victorious in most of them.

The prime minister also emphasized that the formation of a new opposition political force should become a subject of public discussion.

“I want to share my assessments and perceptions. First, during the parliamentary elections, I promised, and it was my commitment, that the Roba-Serzha-Kaluga-Ktrich forces, or, in a word, the spy forces, the three-headed or four-headed party of war, must be destroyed. The results of the local government elections show that this has happened with the help and support of Armenian citizens.

“But on the other hand, I want to say openly and directly that, as someone who became Armenia’s prime minister following the 2018 nonviolent Velvet Revolution, I am not at all happy that we received more than 90%, 80% or 70% of the vote in several communities. However pleasing these percentages may seem at first glance, they evoke certain associations.

“These results also raise the question of opposition in Armenia. We must assess this situation correctly. On the one hand, we must genuinely eradicate from Armenia the spy opposition controlled from abroad. On the other hand, Armenia must have a state-oriented opposition,” he said, according to Armenpress.

Pashinyan stressed that the issue had been discussed in various formats, raising the question of what the government could and should do to facilitate the emergence of a new opposition.

“Our conclusion is that we should do nothing. By that, I mean we should not take practical or active steps in this direction. Otherwise, we could find ourselves in an even worse situation and attempt to revive the worst political practices in Armenia.

“You remember that Armenia once had a so-called client opposition, an opposition that could be controlled. That is equally disastrous for Armenia.

“But I believe Armenia must develop a new, state-oriented and genuine opposition that engages in real political activity rather than espionage. The need for this is obvious. At the same time, the government cannot and must not create an opposition, because that would be a controlled opposition, a fake opposition,” Pashinyan explained.

According to the prime minister, the solution is for political forces outside the government that prioritize the interests of the state to become more active. He said the Armenian government is implementing institutional reforms and will continue doing so to facilitate the emergence of such an opposition.

“To this extent and in this respect, the October 25 local government elections have resolved the issue. But as I have said before, whenever you solve one problem, two or three new problems emerge. Yesterday’s elections allowed us to resolve one problem, but three new ones have arisen.

“First, how can we ensure that the election results do not create an impression of authoritarianism or dictatorship?

“Second, how can we establish an objective mechanism of public oversight in communities where the authorities have received a high level of trust?

“Third, how can we ensure that Armenia develops a state-oriented, young, intellectual, objective and honest opposition that is governed and guided solely by its own voters and citizens?

“These are questions we need to think about,” Pashinyan concluded.

Local government elections were held in 21 communities across the Republic of Armenia on October 25. According to figures presented by the minister, a total of 188,514 citizens participated in the elections.

The Civil Contract party won in most communities, except Stepanavan, where the Gortsarar (Business) Party received the largest share of votes.