Paruyr Hayrikyan, a candidate for president, stated today that he would not file a petition in the Constitutional Court to postpone the presidential election. www.aravot.am inquired during a conversation with political scientists whether this decision had been expectable, and what calculations P. Hayrikyan had made while making this decision.
Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said in this regard: “Postponing wouldn’t have been in Hayrikyan’s interest anyway. For the moment, at the most heated stage of the struggle, he is the leading character of the election campaign and the mass media, which is important for candidates. On the other hand, Hayrikyan always tries not to harm the country’s reputation. Therefore, he combined these two things and made a decision not to postpone the election.”
Vigen Hakobyan, a political technologist, stated that P. Hayrikyan made a simple political calculation. Then he added: “The more time Hayrikyan had wasted, the less favorable his position would have been, since what he could benefit, i.e. electoral dividends, Hayrikyan had already gained in the period after the assassination attempt on him. No candidate had been offered such opportunities, live broadcasting etc. However, the importance of the moment was gradually decreasing, and statements were not always favorable to Hayrikyan. It can be noticed in the opinions expressed on social networks too. Imagine, if the election was postponed for two weeks, it would not be clear what it would result in. This increase of Hayrikyan’s rating by a few percentage points could disappear afterwards. Therefore, Hayrikyan, as an experienced politician, made a very good calculation. Certainly, I don’t rule out that some people might influence him. For example, he, as an old and experienced politician who tries to benefit as much as possible from the situation, might reach certain political agreements.”
We asked to clarify with which force. The political technologist replied: “One can reach significant agreements only with the government.” In response to the request to clarify whether Hayrikyan had been offered an office, our interlocutor said: “I cannot say for sure, but, in general, agreements in politics are normal processes.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
