Fanning the Flames of Domestic Political Crises: Corona in Armenia

Was the timing merely coincidence or orchestrated political manoeuvring? On 1 June, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Paschinyan, announced to the public that he himself and the closest members of his family, his wife and three daughters, had become infected with the corona virus. Anti-government members of Armenian society found it difficult to view this communication in isolation of the current domestic political situation. The announcement, only one week later, that the Prime Minister’s family and Paschinyan himself had now recovered, reinforced speculations that officially announcing the infection was nothing more than a diversionary tactic. Government measures officially adopted to contain the pandemic, such as the state of emergency extended for the third time last weekend, are predominantly interpreted in light of the prevailing political climate. The number of those in Armenian society who are critical of government seems to be increasing every day.