“That the election was not a surprise to anyone is a fact, but the surprise in the election will be the people’s vote,” Stepan Safaryan, the secretary general of the Heritage Party, stated during a conversation with www.aravot.am, talking about the Yerevan City Council election.
Mr. Safaryan went into detail: “Our people deserved a better election than the one that was held. I am under the impression that they consider voters of the Republic of Armenia to be handicapped. It is also funny that they bring unconscious people. They bring people who are literally half-dead; people don’t even realize what they are doing, doing service to other people by taxis, cars, as well as rail. Again, there is no railroad in Avan and Masiv, and in some cases, people are brought to polling places for a certain payment. We recorded certain manifestations of organized electoral fraud.
“Outside the polling place, the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) act in accordance with the same governmental rules, inside the polling place, they act in accordance with the opposition’s rules. So it turns out that votes are brought using different methods, and the opposition members of commissions keep those votes. This cannot be considered an election, and Armenian society deserved a better election. The voter also wants to lie and avenge. There were many cases when they came to our office and said that they had taken money from one force, but had voted for another.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
