The opposition should try to take advantage of the contradictions between external actors, former State Revenue Committee head David Ananyan stated.
The authorities have concentrated all levers of influence in their hands, including those affecting external actors. On the foreign policy front, they present themselves as the only force striving for peace in Armenia, insisting that whoever comes after them will be revanchists.
From this perspective, the opposition’s opportunities are far more limited than ever. Before the current ruling team came to power, the situation was entirely different. At that time, external actors had certain expectations of Armenia, which the authorities then in power either refused, did not want, or could not fulfill. After the current team took office, these expectations turned into a list of tasks, and a certain consensus formed in the foreign policy arena, according to which no one could execute these tasks better than the current government.
“Perhaps not all external actors are involved in this consensus; in the case of certain countries, exceptions can be made. Nevertheless, for the majority of external actors, none of the current opposition can be acceptable, since they would not unquestioningly fulfill the tasks on that list,” Ananyan said.
In this situation, the opposition should try to exploit contradictions among external actors, because such contradictions in interests do exist. “Unfortunately, we have turned our country into a zone of conflicting interests. But since we are in such a situation, we need to turn it to our advantage. Efforts must be made to use the period when major players are negotiating among themselves to ensure internal redistribution and restructuring,” he stated.