The governor was in the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) campaign office
Today Raffi Hovhannisyan, a candidate for president, was in the region of Kotayk on his campaign trail. After saying hello to residents of Hrazdan at bus stops, in shops and elsewhere, he decided to enter the regional administration building to say hello to the governor, Kovalenko Shahgeldyan. However, the regional administration employees said: “Our governor is not here. Look for him in the Republican campaign office.”
In response to Raffi Hovhannisyan’s surprised question who performed his duties, the employees said: “His deputy, the chief of staff. He has taken a leave to work at the campaign office.” Kovalenko Shahgeldyan’s deputies were sitting in their offices with the RPA badges pinned to their chests.
We really found the governor in the RPA campaign office. Raffi Hovhannisyan inquired of him: “What is the situation?” The governor asked to clarify in what sense. “In the sense that a normal election should be held in Armenia and Hrazdan for the first time in 20 years,” the Heritage Party leader said. Kovalenko Shahgeldyan claimed that there had always been normal elections in both Hrazdan and the region of Kotayk. He urged not to make the election partisan, boasted that he, being a director of a large factory, hadn’t been a party member even in Soviet times, and generally, he hadn’t been a member of any party before 2006. “Certainly, we don’t doubt our candidate’s victory,” he said. Raffi Hovhannisyan, in his turn, responded: “And I don’t doubt that our people will win.”
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At the end of the conversation, Kovalenko Shahgeldyan said that they would congratulate Mr. Sargsyan on February 19 and started to laugh boisterously. Raffi Hovhannisyan answered Kovalenko Shahgeldyan that there would be no tragic, in his opinion, if the RPA became the minority. The governor nodded and confided that Mr. Hovhannisyan had to understand that our people’s mentality couldn’t adapt to capitalism; there were a lot of problems that didn’t depend on the president.
Nonetheless, he guaranteed that there will be a genuine election in the region of Kotayk. And in response to Raffi Hovhannisyan’s criticism that everyone knew what was going on; lists of teachers and principals were made, the governor said: “Let us have our say; you always have your say. Mr. Hovhannisyan, what they always say that the resource is used is not the case. A man makes a decision when he enters the voting
booth, and neither the governor, nor the Chief of Police, no one can influence him.” The governor assured that it was a point of honor for the region of Kotayk not to allow the
election to be rigged etc.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
