Former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has once again returned to the political stage with inflammatory remarks about the future of Armenia’s government. Speaking to supporters, he declared that “the issue of a change of government in Armenia has always been on our agenda,” openly suggesting impeachment of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan while drawing a disturbing parallel to recent violent protests in Nepal. By contrasting the “Nepalese way” of removing governments, through bloodshed, with the “French way” of parliamentary procedure, Sargsyan implied that violence is also an option in Armenia’s political arena.

Such rhetoric is not new in Armenia’s turbulent political landscape. However, when voiced by a former head of state, it takes on a particularly troubling dimension, one that threatens to reignite old divisions and undermine fragile democratic progress. Sargsyan’s words seem calculated to stoke anxiety within the government, rally disenchanted supporters, and maintain his own relevance in the national conversation. But Armenians, having endured decades of political instability and the failures of previous regimes, show little enthusiasm for a return to........

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