In response to a question of www.aravot.am who he thought was the incumbent president’s main rival, Gagik Minasyan, an RPA MP, said that he would prefer to answer that question after candidates were registered.
However, according to him, all those candidates who are registered “are worth close attention as rivals.” In response to our observation whether even such excentric candidates as, say, the expert in epic poems were worth it, Gagik Minasyan said: “I don’t think it is right to call a person by his profession in this case. Everyone is worth respect, and it would be better to call them by the name.”
We inquired whether Gagik Minasyan thought that Raffi Hovhannisyan, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Hrant Bagratyan, a former Prime Minister, would end in second place. “It doesn’t matter, and I think the voters will decide that. Generally, one shouldn’t make any predictions. I think we enter a rather interesting phase in the development of our country. The period before presidential elections is really a milestone, and everything must be decided by the voters in that period. I think it is not right to make predictions who will end in second place. The people will decide based on who will put forward what program, how convincing those programs will be.”
The RPA MP doesn’t share the opinion that this election will not be competitive. “People who spread that idea are mainly the supporters of the political force the hopes of which were dashed. And the reason for that were quite wrong political predictions. Therefore, they make wrong predictions once again,” our interlocutor said, adding that he meant forces in the opposition camp, “Because they are the very people who try to label the upcoming campaign in such a way.”
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He is also convinced that this election will not have a negative impact on the reputation of either the state or the president to be elected. “It is very important for this election to be held in the best possible way in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law. I think as a result of the election, there will be a situation, which will accelerate our pace toward the country we all wish to see.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
