Local elections campaign in Armenia kicks off: Methods of political forces` fight have not changed

ArmInfo. The local elections campaign in Armenia has kicked off. The methods of political forces' fight have not changed. 

The most active fight is going on in Vanadzor and Gyumri. In Sevan, there are five "authoritative" candidates, with some of them being members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). So, in Sevan, the Republicans are contending for the mayor's seat with each other rather than with the opposition.  Therefore, the party has taken a political decision - to support none of the candidates in Sevan in order not to offend any of them. Nevertheless, the authoritative republicans have their favorites among the candidates. For instance, at the elections in Sevan, Governor of Gegharkunik Province Rafik Grigoryan and some prominent representatives of the RPA support Sargis Muradyan, the deputy head of Sevan National Park. The incumbent mayor Rudik Ghukasyan, in contrary, has rather tense relations with Grigoryan. They managed to "throw mud at each other" even before the electoral campaign.

Things are somewhat different in Vanadzor and Gyumri. Representatives of several political forces are contending for the seats in the Elders' Council and for mayors' seats. In Vanadzor, these are the RPA, Armenian National Congress (ANC), Solidarity, Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), Civil Contract, ARF Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD), Bright Armenia and Armenian Rebirth. The favorites are RPA candidate, notary officer Mamikon Aslanyan; Bright Armenia member, MP Edmon Marukyan's brother Kristian Marukyan; and member of the Elders' Council Arkady Peleshyan. The elections in Vanadzor are flavored with traditions of an Armenian political fight - the candidates have already called each other "drug addicts", "drunkards", "thieves", and "parasites". It will become clear on October 2 whom the people will elect, but for now the political forces keep reproaching each other for unconscientious fight. Solidarity Party has made a statement, saying that the Municipality of Vanadzor has almost "occupied" all the squares and parks of the town, having planned some events in advance, to prevent other political forces from holding their rallies there.

As regards Gyumri, the contending parties are Alliance, PAP, Armenian Rebirth, Civil Contract, ARFD, the newly-created GALA party, Solidarity, Gyumri Resident's Spirit Party, Balasanyan bloc, Entrepreneur Party. The favorites are GALA, Armenian Rebirth, Balasanyan bloc, and PAP. In private conversations, the residents of Gyumri state that in case of fair elections, GALA will achieve big success. However, according to the media reports, GALA is not an opposition party, but a "government project" aimed at weakening the positions of the rest of the forces in Gyumri. Balasanyan bloc has been set up by the incumbent mayor of Gyumri Samvel Balasanyan and it enjoys the support of the RPA and other pro-power forces. Armenian Rebirth, with most of its members being natives of Shirak Province, has advanced MP Hovannes Margaryan's nominee for the mayor's post, while the PAP has advanced the nominee of Vardevan Grigoryan, ex-rector of the Gyumri Pedagogical University.

One cannot speak of pluralism in other towns of Armenia in the course of local elections, because most of the towns "are committed" to the Armenian methods of fight, when for some "unknown reason" all the participants withdraw their candidacies and only the authorities' candidate remains. This has happened in Masis - David Hambardzumyan, the son of the well-known businessman Mher Hambardzumyan a.k.a Tuyneri Mher (Mher of Poison), is the only candidate for mayor.

There are already media reports about pressure being exerted on the opposition candidates in Vagharshapat (its mayor is Karen Grigoryan, the son of MP Manvel Grigoryan) and Goris (where Governor of Syunik Province Suren Khachatryan personally exerts pressure on the opposition candidates). Certainly, the RPA representatives deny this information.