“Hayots Ashkhar” says that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has preserved its “monopoly” on government decision-making as a result of Sunday’s parliamentary elections. The paper says the only unanswered question now is which political forces will be represented in a new government to be formed by President Serzh Sarkisian in the coming weeks. The make-up of the new coalition government will have important implications for next year’s presidential election, it says,
“Zhamanak” says that the HHK-led authorities could face “serious problems” if the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) joins the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) in challenging the election results. “The more so, if these two forces are joined by Dashnaktsutyun,” writes the paper. “So the key question here is what stance Prosperous Armenia will adopt. If the BHK stance is delayed, then the HAK will most probably refrain from an active street struggle because the Congress currently does not have sufficient public support to exert serious pressure on the government from the street.” The paper suggests that the BHK’s decision depends on the results of its “negotiations” with President Serzh Sarkisian’s party.
“It is clear that starting from today political forces will prepare for next year’s presidential elections and the configuration that has emerged in the [new] parliament should be viewed from that perspective,” “Aravot” writes in an editorial. The paper says that the BHK’s decision to remain in the government would be “the worst option.” “That would be bad in the sense that the parliament would remain a rubber-stamp body and government bills would not undergo any legislative scrutiny,” it says. “The most optimal variant is as follows: the BHK does not join anyone and acts as an independent and constructive opposition force,” concludes “Aravot.”
“Yerkir” says that just because Armenian elections are no longer marred by widespread violence and crude vote rigging does not mean that the country has made much progress towards democracy. The paper claims that this is something international observers do not realize. “They don’t enter people’s hearts to understand why people are not happy if the elections were so fair and transparent,” it says.
“Strangely enough, it turned out that most people of voting age are not that unhappy with their life,” “Azg” writes, commenting on the official election results. “Otherwise, they would not have given 75 percent of their votes to parties that have been in power for ten years.” Those voters, it says, will have “no right to complain or whine for five years.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
“Zhamanak” says that the HHK-led authorities could face “serious problems” if the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) joins the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) in challenging the election results. “The more so, if these two forces are joined by Dashnaktsutyun,” writes the paper. “So the key question here is what stance Prosperous Armenia will adopt. If the BHK stance is delayed, then the HAK will most probably refrain from an active street struggle because the Congress currently does not have sufficient public support to exert serious pressure on the government from the street.” The paper suggests that the BHK’s decision depends on the results of its “negotiations” with President Serzh Sarkisian’s party.
“It is clear that starting from today political forces will prepare for next year’s presidential elections and the configuration that has emerged in the [new] parliament should be viewed from that perspective,” “Aravot” writes in an editorial. The paper says that the BHK’s decision to remain in the government would be “the worst option.” “That would be bad in the sense that the parliament would remain a rubber-stamp body and government bills would not undergo any legislative scrutiny,” it says. “The most optimal variant is as follows: the BHK does not join anyone and acts as an independent and constructive opposition force,” concludes “Aravot.”
“Yerkir” says that just because Armenian elections are no longer marred by widespread violence and crude vote rigging does not mean that the country has made much progress towards democracy. The paper claims that this is something international observers do not realize. “They don’t enter people’s hearts to understand why people are not happy if the elections were so fair and transparent,” it says.
“Strangely enough, it turned out that most people of voting age are not that unhappy with their life,” “Azg” writes, commenting on the official election results. “Otherwise, they would not have given 75 percent of their votes to parties that have been in power for ten years.” Those voters, it says, will have “no right to complain or whine for five years.”
(Tigran Avetisian)