Armenia ranks sixth in the world in the intensity of democratic decline, according to the latest report by the V-Dem Institute, Armenian Republican Party (RPA) Vice Chairman Armen Ashotyan said in a Facebook post.
He was reacting to the institute’s annual report on the state of democracy worldwide, which, according to him, “once again recorded democratic backsliding in Armenia.”
“Back in the day, these reports were so important for Nikol that he even publicly cited them and referred to selective assessments that were favorable to him.
Now he remains silent, because even under favorable geopolitical winds it is impossible to conceal the country’s ongoing authoritarianization.
One of the latest manifestations of this was the absurd political persecution against Armine Ohanyan.
Nikol resembles a drug addict whose Western curators advise him to ease the pressure (using house arrest instead of imprisonment and other ‘mitigations’), yet he still ‘sniffs’ the adrenaline of launching new political persecutions at the same time.
Let me return to the report. I have already said that, for example, in the ‘Liberal Democracy Index’ Armenia has dropped ten places within a year — from 76th to 86th.
Now look at the attached slide, according to which Armenia ranks sixth in the world in the intensity of democratic decline.
Nikol, congratulations. But there is still room to improve as a dictator. Make an effort to enter the top three among authoritarianizers. You can do it. The only question is whether we will allow it,” the post said.
