“It is good that the false oppositionists didn’t win votes,” Sos Gimishyan, the leader of the Christian Democratic Renaissance Party and a member of the Association of Community Financiers, described the Yerevan City Council election during a conversation with www.aravot.am. Then Sos Gimishyan added: “It’s a pity that the votes of Hello Yerevan were few, and it is obvious that the government represented by the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and the PAP was able to ensure a clear majority using the administrative resource and election bribes. That is why I think all the processes are basically normal. Certainly, I rule out the possibility that the election has been conducted normally, in the best way. Furthermore, there is no force that seriously makes such a demand and not just talks. A few months ago, society took a critical step during the presidential election and saw that there were no forces particularly inclined to consolidate opposition and approached this election more disappointed, attached less importance to it; that is why the results are such.” In response to our observation that Mr. Gimishyan considered the PAP to be part of the government, whereas that force considered itself to be an alternative, he said: “No such thing exists. They have never said that they are opposition; no one, except for the ANC, considers them to be opposition. And the other descriptions such as an alternative etc. are childish games. It is obvious that the PAP has been and is with the government and cannot become opposition. The PAP itself will not wish to become opposition; such a political force will not exist in Armenia and will never get either 20 or 30 percent.”
Emin Yeritsyan, the president of the Association of Armenian Communities, also noted that there was political competition in this election, and everyone bore collective responsibility for organizing the election, which had reduced the risks of fraud.
Talking about the election results, E. Yeritsyan said: “Those were predictable. The opposition chose a wrong strategy and a wrong campaign. The opposition made too many promises and took an elevated tone. As a result, voters didn’t believe their promises. They didn’t trust the idea of changing Armenia through Yerevan, which harmed the opposition forces. On the other hand, the results were predictable, since during the whole campaign, everyone, stimulated by the ANC, started to serve the PAP’s campaign and started to lose face, directing the electorate to the PAP. For example, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) stated that its goal was to motivate additional voters, so that they turned out to vote with political motivation. It pursued too ambitious a goal; therefore, many people didn’t believe that, and voters of that kind didn’t turn out to vote. Those same ANC, ARF, Hello Yerevan acted in the same manner, campaigning against a specific person and losing face. The opposition sang multiple parts like a choir, where the PAP was the soloist, the rest were just backing vocalists; that is why they lost their votes.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
