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Press Review


“Yerkir” says that the May parliamentary elections will be different from previous Armenian elections in that they will take place in a more difficult economic environment and a gloomier public mood. “In these conditions, public anger, intolerance and demand for change have reached an unprecedented level,” writes the paper. It claims that the government pretends not to see this reality and comes up instead with “empty promises and claims about non-existent achievements.”

“Zhamanak” anticipates “quite bitter intra-governmental clashes” in the parliamentary elections that will be held in Armenia’s 41 single-mandate constituencies. The paper points to plans by the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) to field candidates in all those districts. “Obviously [President Serzh Sarkisian’s] HHK cannot afford to give way to the BHK on the issue,” it says, adding that defeat in those constituencies “could cost Serzh Sarkisian dearly.”

“Hraparak” discusses the political significance of next month’s mayoral election in the central Armenian town of Hrazdan whose incumbent mayor is challenged by Sasun Mikaelian, a prominent member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK). “The Hrazdan elections will be the kind of litmus test that will tell us a lot about the forthcoming national elections,” explains the paper. “On February 12 the government and the opposition will enter the stage for the first time and we will see what the Armenian society thinks of these two forces. We will also see whether the government’s grandiose promises of clean elections are real and feasible.”

“Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun” reports on HHK leaders’ latest statements that their party will win the May vote. “The meaning of this message is very clear: we will rig [the elections] anyway,” claims the opposition daily. It says the authorities have already launched a propaganda campaign which is supposed to legitimize their fraudulent victory. It says they are implying that most Armenians do not care about political parties and their platform and will readily sell their votes.

(Tigran Avetisian)
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