www.aravot.am found out during a conversation with different political scientists that the majority of them think that the candidates for president, except for incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan, have no chances to be elected.
Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan thinks there are other reasons for an abundance of candidates. “I don’t rule out that they pursue other goals too, even political PR or getting dividends. The presidential election is practically over already. And the main rivals of incumbent president Serzh Sargsyan have lost earlier than the election day. I am talking about the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and the Armenian National Congress (ANC), in particular.”
In response to our observation that the ANC expressed opinions that this was a boycott, not a defeat, when the main political forces in the country didn’t participate in an election, H. Melik-Shahnazaryan said the following: “One boycotts by not participating. I wouldn’t say that the main political forces don’t participate in the election. For example, the Heritage Party, which is a parliamentary party, and the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) participate in the presidential election. A part of the parliamentary parties participates and in this case, there can be no boycott. It is just another attempt to disguise one’s defeat, it is characteristic of the opposition camp too. We can see that the ANC as such doesn’t exist; only the office has remained. The activists have joined different camps; the leader has left the political stage. And in this case, saying that they haven’t lost, they have boycotted is just ridiculous.”
In response to a question whether society benefited or lost, the political scientist said: “It is a positive thing that the political stage gets rid of the burden of the past. I hope that there will be fresher forces on the political stage during Serzh Sargsyan’s second term.”
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Political scientist Levon Shirinyan also thinks that no candidate, except for S. Sargsyan, has chances to win and goes into detail: “Even Hayrikyan admits that he doesn’t have a chance. A part of the candidates does the government a favor, another part presents itself to society. One can write in his bio that he has been a candidate for president; it goes down in history. Another part may have something to say; Hayrikyan and Bagratyan say that they have something to say. Those who don’t have anything to say should struggle against those who have, and in sum, all this yields a political process. There is everything. There is a bride, a groom and a general for the wedding; everything is normal. However, actually there is only one candidate who has already won. The fact that the PAP has left the political struggle or has been forced to leave has caused a deadlock in the Armenian political life. It mustn’t have left. The political life is like a staged democratic process the content of which is one candidate with his ensured victory. At the end of the day, society doesn’t benefit. However, it is a positive thing that the generation that has been on the political stage since the Artsakh War has proved to be nothing; everyone, except for Raffi Hovhannisyan, is bankrupt. This is the opposition elite in the Republic of Armenia. The elite that haven’t changed and have been in the spotlight, no matter how many presidents have changed. Those leaders are bankrupt.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
