The presidential election is over in Armenia. At press time the winner’s name was still to be announced, but BBC said even before the campaign that experts had predicted that the incumbent President, Serge Sarkisian, would be the strongest candidate because all serious opponents had stepped down without actually explaining why.
This campaign was accompanied by several scandals, including an attempt on the life of Paruyr Hayrikyan of the National Self-Determination Union, a noted Soviet dissident who had spent over 17 years in the camps [he was wounded in the shoulder outside his home near Yerevan]. Andrias Ghukasyan, the youngest of the eight presidential candidates, a businessman with a degree in economics, went on hunger strike in an effort to persuade the authorities to annul Sarkisian’s candidacy.
The Day asked an expert, Stepan SAFARIAN, general secretary of Heritage (a liberal opposition party in Armenia), for comment, particularly in regard to Sarkisian’s indisputable victory in the first round.
“I don’t think that the outcome of the election is clear, for the situation throughout the country remains to be seen. Even if this happens [i.e., if Sarkisian is re-elected as president (which has actually happened). – Ed.], it will mean that bribes were given and taken on a large scale. I’m in charge of one of the districts of Yerevan and keep in contact with my teams, so I know what I’m talking about. Otherwise the outcome would be different, of course. At the moment I can’t say for sure that those who took bribes voted for the incumbent president. There is a group of experts that keeps saying that Sarkisian has no alternative. That’s not entirely true. The problem is that most people support Raffi Hovannisian [the Heritage leader, MP, the first prime minister of Armenia. — Ed.]. Since all government structures are involved in the rigging of this election, other results can be expected.
“As for Yerevan’s statements about never joining the Customs Union, this doesn’t mean that Armenian authorities are cooperating with the EU proceeding from the values and prospects of Armenia. These authorities are well aware that criticism will damage them; that was why they started cooperating with the Union, to mellow the West out, especially in the aftermath of the election. Armenia’s stand can’t be described as European integration, considering that there is nothing but imitation of these values in the West. They [Armenian authorities. — Ed.] are doing so proceeding from two considerations: (a) getting financial aid from Europe and (b) cushioning the West’s reaction if this campaign is found out to have been rigged. Some European diplomats keep saying that Armenia has taken a European stand, but that’s all there is to it. Yes, our government is prepared to sign various documents, but we all understand that it is not prepared to accept their essence, let alone implement them.”
