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Press Review


“The opposition does not have sufficiently convincing evidence of the falsification of the elections,” “Hayots Ashkhar” writes, commenting on the planned opposition appeals to Armenia’s Constitutional Court. “In the end, [the opposition] will find itself in a stupid situation and once again prove to the country and the world that the authorities have a great resource of legitimacy. The same can be said about [opposition] ‘leaders’ who polled one or two percent of the vote in these elections and have already rushed to announce their determination to contest the [presidential] elections of 2008.” The Armenian opposition must now think not about coming to power but its very survival, concludes the pro-government paper.

According to “Haykakan Zhamanak,” the May 12 vote demonstrated that “elections can not be a mechanism for effecting change” in Armenia. “Moreover, every election brings us closer to totalitarianism,” claims the pro-opposition daily. “Herein lies the specificity of the May 12 elections. Virtually everyone in Armenia is unhappy with the existing situation and simply cannot stand the Republican Party (HHK) and its leader, considering them criminals and plunderers. But in the elections that party won a majority which was hardly imaginable.”

“Golos Armenii” hopes that the new government to be formed by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian will not comprise “unsavory figures.” “Otherwise, the population would hardly pin hopes for positive change on the party of power,” warns the paper. It also says that few members of the newly parliament are “fit for legislative work.” “The new corps of deputies will hardly instill more confidence and optimism in the population than the previous one. So all the hopes are on the government.”

“Hayk” reports that President Robert Kocharian “offered” Sarkisian to sack Gyumri Mayor Vartan Ghukasian following the latest shootout in Armenia’s second largest city. “Naturally, Sarkisian opposed that,” says the paper. “The thing is that without Ghukasian’s help the HHK is unable to make electoral violations in Gyumri,” it explains. “As for Robert Kocharian, he realizes that without the current mayor of Gyumri the [Prosperous Armenia Party] will be able to take over the business of vote rigging and achieve desirable results there. Ahead of the presidential elections Kocharian is seeking to create a reliable power base in Gyumri and that base will not be quite strong in case Vartan Ghukasian stays on as mayor. Sarkisian, meanwhile, has strictly instructed Ghukasian to establish law and order in Gyumri and stay away from adventures.”

(Atom Markarian)
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