expert on election results – EADaily, September 19, 2023 – Politics news, Caucasus News

The Yerevan publication 168.am published an interview with Armenian political analyst and political strategist Vigen Hakobyan, entitled “The current elections were quite serious monitoring.”

At an extraordinary meeting, the Central Election Commission summed up the preliminary results of the elections to the Council of Elders of the Armenian capital. According to them, five political forces overcame the entry barrier: the Civil Contract party (32.57%), the National Progress party (18.89%), the Mother Armenia bloc (15.43%), and the Republic party. ” (11.32%) and the “Public Voice” party (9.68%). Public and political circles consider these results a fiasco of the authorities. There is no reaction yet from the ruling Civil Contract party.

Political analyst and political strategist Vigen Hakobyan stated that the authorities no longer have the opportunity to independently form power even in Yerevan. According to him, with a voter turnout of about 29%, the result recorded by the “Civil Contract” is very remarkable:

“In conditions of low electorate activity, the authorities usually have an advantage due to administrative resources. However, in the current conditions, having ensured the participation of a stable electorate, they reached a maximum of 32.5%. This is a pretty important political fixation.”

Vigen Hakobyan believes that another failure of the authorities is connected with the developments around Artsakh (Armenian historical name of Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.) and foreign policy processes.

“In such a situation, the geopolitical value of Nikol Pashinyan has decreased significantly. All international players understand that his “yes” or signature (under the future Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agreement – ed.) does not mean that the agreements on Artsakh will be implemented. Naturally, this is reflected in internal political developments in Armenia. We have repeatedly noted that in 2021 (at the parliamentary elections in Armenia – ed.) there was a certain geopolitical, regional consensus around Pashinyan and his power. Today there is no such consensus. And the foreign policy support that the ruling party had two years ago and thanks to which the reproduction of power took place in the National Assembly is also missing. Which, in turn, affects the internal political situation,” — the political analyst noted and added: “In 2021, external players turned a blind eye to many processes, but now, apparently, this has not happened. Not all of them are loyal to the Armenian authorities.”

Touching upon the low voter turnout, our interlocutor noted that he did not remember such a precedent. “This is probably an anti-record in the entire history of post-Soviet Armenia,” emphasized Vigen Hakobyan.

When asked what processes should be expected after the elections, the analyst replied: “I believe that new political agendas will be formed, since from now on the government’s self-confidence is weakening – regarding the degree of its legitimacy, as well as in the matter of constantly mentioning the influence of the people’s factor.”

Hakobyan also emphasized that post-election processes are determined by the possibilities of forming or not forming coalitions.

“In any case, participation in these elections, and monitoring of sentiment through elections, and the weakness of power can create new opportunities for interested (opposition – ed.) political forces. This is also serious monitoring for external players interested in issues of the region and Armenia. I think they’re keeping a close eye on what’s going on. These elections have clarified a lot: who actually represents what, who has what capabilities, where is the usual bluff, where are empty statements, and where are “old songs about the main thing,” — Vigen Hakobyan summarized.