“Zhamanak” says that the officially or unofficially pro-government candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections are keen to have seats in the new National Assembly only for their personal self-interest. The paper says the lists of election candidates publicized by Armenian parties and blocs means the next parliament is extremely unlikely to be representative of the society. “And that will be the main result of the parliamentary elections,” it concludes grimly.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” is also upset with the choice of many election candidates, saying that the seeming diversity of contenders is deceptive. “In fact, the forces seeking participation [in the elections] can be divided into four categories,” writes the paper. “The first group includes the [ruling] HHK and [Gagik Tsarukian’s] BHK. In effect, they both are apolitical structures. The second group includes [government] clients, so to speak: Dashnaktsutyun and Artur Baghdasarian’s Armenian Revival. As always, they will be making very anti-government statements before placing themselves under the government tutelage after the elections.”
“The third group includes the [Armenian National] Congress and the Yelk alliance,” continues “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun.” “These are the forces that will be looking to get the votes of the most educated and politicized section of the society longing for really systemic changes. And the fourth group is made up of forces which make it hard for people to understand who they are and why they are participating in the elections.”
“Hraparak” notes that opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian is only 11th on the electoral list of his bloc formed with Vartan Oskanian and Seyran Ohanian. The paper says this was the position that was offered to Victor Dallakian, whose Third Republic party was also poised to join the bloc but opted out of it in protest. It suggests that Hovannisian is thus telling Dallakian there is nothing shameful or embarrassing about not being among the bloc’s top ten candidates.
“Zhoghovurd” is concerned about the current stalemate in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process. “While some people think that we have the resources to keep the process frozen for a few more months because of the forthcoming elections in Armenia … Azerbaijan has demonstrated with its actions in recent years that it can be totally unpredictable and resort to large-scale provocations, ignoring every written or unwritten law,” writes the paper. “Therefore, instead of waiting for Azerbaijan to comply with the [May 2016] Vienna agreements or abandon them altogether, the Armenian side should take proactive diplomatic steps.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
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