Thread : There must be a place for valid critique of the Armenian government.

No government is immune to criticism, and any attempt to silence and delegitimize opposition runs counter to our exercise in democracy & what the 2018 revolution was meant to stand for. 1/24

First, the govt has favored spectacle over substance on a number of key reform areas - particularly in terms of combatting corruption. It's no surprise corruption watchdogs like Transparency Int'l & Freedom House have noted little improvement on the anti-corruption front. 2/24

High profile arrests - most of which have not gone to trial - are no substitute for institutional reform. Additionally, concerns have been noted from these NGOs as to the risk of anti-corruption reform & investigations being used to target political opponents. 3/24

These concerns are valid because of the highly centralized & non-transparent nature of the anti-corruption process - concentrated largely in the office of the PM. While an independent corruption commission has been formed, it appears to be toothless & subservient to the PM. 4/24

Additionally, the recent battle over the constitutional court has not abated concerns over the politicization - and ineffectiveness - of the government's anti-corruption strategy. More on this here: https://eurasianet.org/armenias-pashinyan-compromises-on-court-reform 5/24

Another area of reform that has not materialized is in regards to the electoral code. I worked closely with Armenian NGOs on a reform proposal as part of a drawn-out govt consultation process that was ultimately fruitless due to a lack of political will. 6/24

Second, economic development was another priority for the govt - and another area where results have not been delivered. One example is the imposition of a flat tax, regardless of income. This is neoliberalism gone wild, unsuited for a stratified developing economy. 7/24

In effect, the flat tax represents a capitulation to corruption and corporate greed - instead of going after those who refuse to pay up, it concedes to them by lowering taxes for those who can afford to pay more while placing undue burden on the poor. 8/24

Third is institutional reform. Members of the govt & the heads of agencies lack experience - with Pashinyan favoring group-think over experienced consensus-based decision-making. He's rewarded loyalty & locked anyone affiliated with the old regime out of his inner circle. 9/24

Many will say pushing old-regime affiliates out of the decision-making process is good - and to an extent, it is. At the same time, anyone with an ounce of political experience in Armenia today necessarily has some ties to the old guard. We can't afford to reject that. 10/24

One of the few examples of continuity was FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. With that said, it's clear the FM was not part of Pashinyan's core decision-making team. New faces are important, but that shouldn't come at the expense of experience. 11/24

The fourth issue is with social policy. There are two core policy failures here: the refusal to ratify the Istanbul Convention, and the Amulsar mining situation (this is an environmental and economic issue, but overlaps with social policy). 12/24

The failure to ratify the Istanbul Convention was a moral failure of the administration. Not only has this set back domestic violence reform efforts, but it has also legitimized homophobic narratives - seeing as that was one of the major points of contention. 13/24

This is a direct result of Pashinyan's populist mode of governance. Instead of leading on this issue, he chose to defer to the streets. He allowed vital reform to be held hostage by hate & set the country back on both women's & LGBTQ+ rights b/c he lacked political courage. 14/24

When it comes to Amulsar, I acknowledge that this was a position Pashinyan was forced into by the previous govt. But his mishandling of this issue has come as a result of a lack of decisive leadership. 15/24

The dispersing of protesters, for example, is hypocritical given the fact that he rode to power on the back of mass demonstrations. He also fast-tracked a non-transparent environmental re-evaluation to approve the mine, that experts have been skeptical of. 16/24

Amulsar is representative of the tension between populist rule and practical decision-making. Without getting into whether Amulsar is good or bad (would need a whole thread for that), the mishandling of the process by the govt is in itself a major political failure. 17/24

The fifth, and perhaps most crucial, issue is foreign relations. Pashinyan and his political allies have been overtly anti-Russia for years - to the detriment of Armenia's security. 18/24

I'm no fan of Russia, but for a country surrounded and outnumbered by powerful enemies - Armenia can't afford to push back against its alliance with Russia. One of the worst examples of this was when Armenia prosecuted the head of the CSTO. 19/24

Pashinyan is also on the record opposing the EEU - another major affront to Russia. To the credit of the Sargsyan's govt, he was able to deftly balance Armenia's ties with Russia & the EU - signing a comprehensive partnership agreement w/ the EU without angering Russia. 20/24

There are plenty of other issues worthy of critique, like the govt's mishandling of COVID-19, the under-utilization of the diaspora, lack of military preparedness, economic mismanagement (like the $100M bonus given to parliamentarians), etc. but my space is limited. 21/24

At its core, one of the biggest issues with the govt is its lack of ideological direction. Its mandate is not grounded in a set of principles or values - it is at its core a reactive, populist movement. This has led to indecision, inconsistency & a lack of leadership. 22/24

In this time of crisis, we need strong leadership. Instead, we've seen the scapegoating of opposition, and a lack of transparency and accountability. The agreement last week was the culmination of years of poor policymaking, and systemic dysfunction. 23/24

I welcome discussion, and everyone is free to draw their own conclusions - but not at the expense of valid critique. Again, no govt is immune to criticism & any attempt to silence those voices is undemocratic & runs counter to what the 2018 transition stood for. 24/24

I wrote two pieces for @ArmenianWeekly on the prospects of Pashinyan's govt back in 2018, where I raised many of the same critiques that are unfortunately still true two years later.

One on politics: https://armenianweekly.com/2018/12/19/part-i-pashinyans-armenia-democracy-in-action/

And one on economics: https://armenianweekly.com/2019/01/02/pashinyanomics-running-before-you-can-walk/