“The authorities made full use of a mechanism for falsifications that has been honed in the last 14 years,” “Aravot” says in an editorial on Sunday’s municipal elections in Yerevan. “Violence, ballot stuffing, vote bribes, administrative resources coupled with the introduction of individuals having no right to vote [in Yerevan.] Having said that, it can be asserted that the elections would not have had this outcome had the opposition not committed serious blunders in the last few months. In sum, the most essential deficiency was bad political management and a lack of elementary organization.” The paper says Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) also failed to “use the Zharangutyun party’s political resource.”
“Serzh Sarkisian is going for broke, probably having no other option,” comments Lragir.am. “For the past year he has been trying to establish a grip on power and ensure his dominance of the government system. In that sense, the elections of the municipal council marked a breakthrough for Sarkisian. Had he failed to ensure a complete victory in those elections, he would have hardly gained full control over the government system.” The online publication says the landslide victory of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) was “the only responsible and clear-cut decision” that Sarkisian has made since taking office a year ago. “To what extent that decision corresponded to the interests of the state and the public is of course a topic of a separate conversation,” it says.
According to “Zhamanak,” the ball is again in the opposition court after the elections. The pro-opposition paper says the HAK should “redouble and triple” its fight against the ruling regime. “That doesn’t mean that it should take radical, revolutionary and drastic steps and set romantic goals of achieving maximum results within a short period of time,” it says. “The main force of the opposition and the citizens has always been adherence to the rules of the game. They just probably need to play more actively.”
“It is sad and terrible to live next door to people who agree to sell their homeland for 5,000, 10,000 or 250,000 drams,” “Hayk” writes, commenting on the problem of vote buying. “It is hard to tell who commits a greater crime: he who gives or takes a bribe or he who formed such a system.” “To Serzh Sarkisian and Gagik Beglarian, we will say that by rigging one more election and once again stealing the future from the people they can not expect those people to respect, trust and believe them,” says the opposition daily. “But they can rest assured that they will face even greater pressure from the international community. They are now more illegitimate than they were before May 31.”
(Gevorg Stamboltsian)
“Serzh Sarkisian is going for broke, probably having no other option,” comments Lragir.am. “For the past year he has been trying to establish a grip on power and ensure his dominance of the government system. In that sense, the elections of the municipal council marked a breakthrough for Sarkisian. Had he failed to ensure a complete victory in those elections, he would have hardly gained full control over the government system.” The online publication says the landslide victory of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) was “the only responsible and clear-cut decision” that Sarkisian has made since taking office a year ago. “To what extent that decision corresponded to the interests of the state and the public is of course a topic of a separate conversation,” it says.
According to “Zhamanak,” the ball is again in the opposition court after the elections. The pro-opposition paper says the HAK should “redouble and triple” its fight against the ruling regime. “That doesn’t mean that it should take radical, revolutionary and drastic steps and set romantic goals of achieving maximum results within a short period of time,” it says. “The main force of the opposition and the citizens has always been adherence to the rules of the game. They just probably need to play more actively.”
“It is sad and terrible to live next door to people who agree to sell their homeland for 5,000, 10,000 or 250,000 drams,” “Hayk” writes, commenting on the problem of vote buying. “It is hard to tell who commits a greater crime: he who gives or takes a bribe or he who formed such a system.” “To Serzh Sarkisian and Gagik Beglarian, we will say that by rigging one more election and once again stealing the future from the people they can not expect those people to respect, trust and believe them,” says the opposition daily. “But they can rest assured that they will face even greater pressure from the international community. They are now more illegitimate than they were before May 31.”
(Gevorg Stamboltsian)