In response to a question of www.aravot.am whether she agreed with second President Robert Kocharyan that MPs elected through majoritarian representation were feudal lords, Heghine Bisharyan, the leader of the Rule of Law Party (RLP) parliamentary group, said: “I by no means want to make such assessments of majoritarian representation, but we are against and want that voting system be voided. At the end of the day, the role of parties also increases. I, as a candidate nominated for majoritarian representation twice, lost both times, because election bribes and the struggle of neighborhood tough guys and other people of that kind against me caused my defeat by a few thousands of votes. This means that there is unfairness here; there is dishonesty here. In that sense, majoritarian representation prevents elections from being more transparent and of higher quality. Perhaps, there are majoritarian MPs who can be called highly qualified. I by no means want to assess everyone as such, because there are MPs who are literate, well-bred; they are good MPs. That is why I don’t want to insult my colleagues, but I don’t accept that voting system.” We asked to clarify whether Grigori Margaryan (aka Grish of Bellagio) who won in her electoral district, no. 11, and was also endorsed by the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) had handed out election bribes, Heghine Bisharyan said: “Certainly. If he won, he was the one.” We inquired whether there was proof that he had handed out election bribes, Ms. Bisharyan said, “I say what my electorate said. My electorate was not small – roughly 13 thousand people. They said that the opponent had handed out money; that was why we had lost. I ought to believe my voters, employees of my headquarters, residents of my neighborhood, my building who saw everywhere what was going on.” Mher Sedrakyan, a member of the RPA parliamentary group, said that people who didn’t enjoy good reputation opposed majoritarian representation. In Heghine Bisharyan’s words: “Such neighborhood tough guys can boldly support majoritarian representation, because they cannot appear on a political force’s list for proportional representation, despite their being neighborhood tough guys.” We asked to clarify whether it didn’t do parties any credit to have such persons on their lists for proportional representation, Heghine Bisharyan said, “No. I am convinced that no political force includes those neighborhood tough guys in its list. That is why they support majoritarian representation with its neighborhood tough guys, pressure; we know what election was held in the community of Erebuni – they are elected majoritarian MPs through pressure and ballot stuffing. That is why they, particularly he, support it.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
