Their supporters have openly traded such recriminations for the last couple of months. Kocharian downplayed the row during a February 17 news conference, saying that he and Sarkisian are trying to “restrain” them. The tensions have risen further since then, however.
In a televised interview aired over the weekend, the head of Kocharian’s office, Bagrat Mikoyan, claimed that Sarkisian systematically sought through his political team to demonize and discredit Kocharian after succeeding the latter as president of the republic in 2008. He said that Pashinian, who was an outspoken opposition figure during Sarkisian’s decade-long rule, was also used in that “disinformation” campaign.”
Mikoyan pointed out that Sarkisian’s fugitive son-in-law, Mikael Minasian, claimed to have for years sponsored Pashinian’s Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper. Mikoyan also faulted Sarkisian for handing over power to Pashinian during the mass protests of April-May 2018 sparked by his attempt to hold on to power.
The accusations prompted strong rebuttals from Sarkisian’s political allies. One of them, parliament deputy Anna Mkrtchian, on Wednesday accused Mikoyan of spreading lies that can be exploited by the current Armenian government. Mkrtchian also countered that at least one of Kocharian’s well-known relatives was among the demonstrators demanding Sarkisian’s resignation in 2018.
Kocharian’s son Levon, who also holds a parliament seat, hit back at the “absurd” claims. “Unlike many people, we understood very well, we knew very well who Nikol Pashinian was, and we could not support him in any way,” he told journalists.
Both ex-presidents are natives of Nagorno-Karabakh who led the region during the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan. Despite occasionally criticizing some of the Sarkisian administration’s policies, Kocharian kept a low profile after completing his second and final presidential term in 2008.
He officially returned to active politics following the disastrous 2020 war in Karabakh, setting up the opposition Hayastan alliance that was the Pashinian-led Civil Contract party’s main challenger in snap parliamentary elections held in 2021. According to Armenia’s Central Election Commission, Hayastan finished second with 21 percent of the vote, followed by Sarkisian’s Pativ Unem bloc that got 5.2 percent.
Representatives of both opposition groups dismissed on Wednesday suggestions that their war of words is connected with the next elections due in June 2026.