Political scientist warns opposition against actions and statements  jeopardizing public protests

ArmInfo.  A new wave of civil protest is taking hold in Armenia, and opposition political  forces must avoid actions and statements that could jeopardize it.  Vahe Hovhannisyan, political scientist and co-founder of the  Alternative Projects Group, wrote on social media, following   the  fiasco suffered by the authorities and the aligned bishops who failed  in an attempt to remove Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.

According to the political scientist, in the current situation, the  opposition's task is to formulate pressing issues for the general  public and create space for action and self-expression. It is  necessary to demonstrate to the public that they have the right to  know which gas stations in Armenia will sell imported Azerbaijani  gasoline and to explain to the population the serious moral issue  involved.

It is worth noting that on December 18, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan announced that a train carrying petroleum products was  heading from Azerbaijan to Armenia. Notably, the Armenian prime  minister was unable to answer the question of the volumes involved.  However, he expressed confidence that the peace established between  Armenia and Azerbaijan had facilitated the creation of the necessary  conditions.

 "Hundreds of thousands of our citizens will not want to buy products  from a country that holds our worthy compatriots hostage and  sentences them to life imprisonment, or from a country that has  effectively carried out ethnic cleansing and is destroying the  millennia-old Artsakh. Humans differ from animals in that they  possess intangible values, memory, and dignity. Refusing Azerbaijani  gasoline is a manifestation of civilization. In the civilized world,  for example in Europe, there are numerous examples of societies  rejecting products from another country, guided by moral and ethical  standards," the political scientist noted.

Hovhannisyan also emphasized the need to create awareness of the  issue in the minds of citizens. As the co-founder of the Alternative  Projects Group clarified, this should be as follows: the reign of one  person (Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - ed.) in power must end. "One  person can't sustain internal tension and hostility in the country  for seven years. For seven years, our country has suffered from  internal divisions and dangerous ideas. The process of public  resistance is now developing healthily and will ultimately lead to  the historical phrase: 'The guard is tired.' Political forces simply  have to avoid jeopardizing this positive process with their reckless  actions and mistakes," the political scientist concluded.