AZE.US
Azerbaijani politician and REAL Party co-founder Ilgar Mammadov has mocked Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government over its treatment of opposition leaders.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Mammadov noted that the leaders of Armenia’s three opposition parties are currently under detention – one under house arrest and two in prison.
“Now the set is complete – the leaders of all three Armenian opposition parties are behind bars. One is under house arrest, while two are fully imprisoned. They deserve it from our point of view, of course, but it is still a noteworthy circumstance,” Mammadov wrote.
He argued that the situation also undermines claims that Armenia’s economic growth is a direct result of the country becoming freer and more democratic.
“It is now entirely clear that Armenia is growing wealthier not because it is ‘already free,’ but because it has begun moving within the orbit of wealthy countries and benefits are trickling down to it. That can also work for some time, but it will not work forever,” he said.
Mammadov warned that the prosecution and imprisonment of political opponents by a government presenting itself as democratic could have broader consequences for peaceful transfers of power around the world.
According to him, authoritarian leaders may now invoke Pashinyan’s example to justify refusing to relinquish power voluntarily after elections.
“All the dictators of the world will now point to Pashinyan and say: ‘We are right not to surrender power voluntarily through elections, because otherwise these kinds of “democrats” will imprison us all. No, thank you,’” Mammadov concluded.
AZE.US