(Monitoring by Anna Vardanyan for Caucasus Watch, October 22).

It is already possible to conclude that the change of power that started in May in Armenia would reach its logical and inevitable end in about two months. And from that moment on, the most important issue raised in the domestic political agenda will be who is the opposition? This issue has already been continuously discussed for months and has intensified, especially during the days of the Yerevan Council elections, when it became clear that Pashinyan's team had a very high public rating, and since this point, no other force had realistic long-term hopes of becoming a serious competitor.

Among politicians and political scientists regularly (weg) public appeals and concerns are being regularly voiced about the inception of autocratic power.

Republican Party spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov said: "Where are we going? To a Dictatorship or to a Nikol Pashinyan cult?”

Former MP Hovhannes Igityan, who commented on the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the political situation in the country, is confident- there is no guarantee that a real opposition will appear in the Armenian parliament, even considering the provision of the constitution that the National Assembly should consist of thirty percent opposition representatives. According to him, the reason is that the political ground has not been yet established in Armenia.

On October 18, the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, gave an interview to the Russian News Agency RIA Novosti, announcing his intention to form an opposition party. " I see a serious vacuum on the opposition ground nowadays, and I guess, it needs to be filled based on the interests of the country," he added. “The bad news is that we will have a one-sided parliament. Today's surveys show that the country is moving toward an ordinal political monopoly. And this is what the "velvet" revolution in Armenia was actually aimed against”, concluded the second president of Armenia.

The NA Vice Speaker, RPA spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov thinks the country needs a real opposition. In an interview with 168.am he noted: “In my opinion the RPA should participate in the elections, because this political system needs a real opposition. Who is the opposition today? Luys alliance, Tsarukyan bloc or Sasna Tsrer, who are praising today's authorities without paying attention to each other?” As per Sharmazanov, the challenges of the previous authorities were also that they did not have a strong and serious opposition during their rule. "If we had a strong opposition, not one consisting of four people, as Pashinyan says, street fights probably would not have been sparked in Armenia".

Meanwhile, it needs to be noted, that the statements from the authorities side started to sound more mitigated.

At the October 16 government session, the prime minister Pashinyan announced that the time has come to dismantle the barricades, thus trying to justify his decision to appoint the former elite’s representative, the former first Deputy Police Chief Hunan Poghosyan, as a governor to one of the most important regions of Armenia, Syunik, which caused an utmost negative reaction among the public. https://www.a1plus.am/1645499.html

And on October 17, RA’s First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan did not rule out the possibility, that there will be people from the other side of the “barricades” in their pre-electoral list of the parliamentary elections. https://armlur.am/848250/?fbclid=IwAR3EfnGk43Wy3cSqJTBBNSzVDUo-05PPxpOZo93ySjgHK_ScT_g5zTlipg0

Some political analysts believe that an opposition can be formed from the very ruling wing of the newly elected parliament of the RA. “I think, within the “My Step” alliance, we will have quite different approaches and heated discussions, and throughout the time, “My Step” will become a crucial tool for the future development of Armenia's political arena”, says  political scientist Mikayel Zolyan.

Let us also mention that at the end of the week, on October 19, the statement of the Venice Commission was issued, where its President Gianni Buquicchio referred to the amendments to the RA Electoral Code, expressing their support for a number of positive trends in them, nevertheless, he reminded about the reservations of the Venice Commission with respect to major changes in the electoral system, such as the abolition of district lists, within the year preceding the elections. However, the commission chair also noted, that these reservations are less relevant if there is consensus among political forces about the change.

Update: 

The Armenian parliament on Monday voted down changes to the country’s electoral code ahead of an early election expected to be held in December. The amendments needed 63 votes to pass, but received only 56 as many lawmakers from the former ruling Republican Party did not support the draft.“The parliamentary majority and its supporters are doing their best to conduct a sabotage policy ... hoping to turn these election into a revenge tool,” Pashinyan, who is now acting prime minister, said.