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ARMENIAN OPPOSITION OPTS OUT OF LOCAL POLLS
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #657
Sept 7 2012
UK
Ruling party set to sail through assembly elections since opponents
say they're holding off for bigger things.
By Arpi Harutyunyan- Caucasus
Armenia's ruling party is set to win an easy landslide victory in
local polls this month, since the opposition parties have largely
opted out in order to save money for future national elections.
Of the nearly 4,800 candidates standing in the local polls, to be
held in two rounds on September 9 and 23, with over 1,440 belong to
President Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party. That is more than all
other parties put together.
Prosperous Armenia, which was previously in the governing coalition
with the Republicans but has moved into opposition, has 304 candidates
standing, while Dashnaktsutyun has 101 and the Rule of Law party has
64. The more radical opposition parties, Heritage and the Armenian
National Congress, ANC, are fielding fewer than ten each.
The remainder of the candidates are running as independents.
Stepan Safaryan of the Heritage Party said there was little point
taking part.
"Local assembly elections are based on corruption," he said. "The
opposition cannot take part in a process where the fight depends on
bribe-paying rather than political capacity."
The main reason for not putting up a fight, however, seems to be
about conserving resources so to concentrate on national elections.
"The administrative resources are in the government's hands, and they
use unlawful methods to maintain themselves," Lyudmila Sargsyan, a
member of parliament from the ANC, said. "The opposition is therefore
retreating from this fight," she said.
The absence of a strong opposition presence certainly gave ammunition
to the Republican Party.
"For the opposition, the problems that exist in the regions are just
small change," Hayk Babukhanyan, a member of parliament from the
Republican Party, said.
Sergey Minasyan, head of political research at the Caucasus Institute
in Yerevan, agreed that local politics were not the opposition's
primary focus.
"The opposition's passivity can largely be explained by the lack of
resources in their regional offices. In addition, elections to local
assemblies are not the best platform for presenting the opposition's
views, as the main campaign arguments are about matters like repairing
water pipes or the providing fertilisers," he said.
Lilit Galstyan of the Dashnaktsutyun party suggested that elections
were essentially a formality and had little real impact.
"The rules of the game are drawn up in such a way that elections
don't mean anything. They no longer an instrument that affects the
formation of the government... intellectual, physical, moral and
material resources are therefore frittered away on them," she said.
Alexander Markarov, director of the Yerevan office of the Institute
for CIS Countries, said the opposition were making a mistake by not
fielding candidates.
"Even if opposition parties don't believe they will be successful in
the local assembly elections, that doesn't mean they shouldn't take
part in them," he said.
The opposition is certain to win one major post - that of mayor of
Gyumri, Armenia's second city. The Republican Party has not nominated
a candidate itself and is instead backing Prosperous Armenia's Samvel
Balasanyan.
Armen Minasyan, a political analyst from the web site www.panorama.am,
said the Republicans had taken this decision to end a poisonous war
between its mayoral candidate in Gyumri and a former contender from
Prosperous Armenia.
"To end this battle, the authorities decided to support a neutral
candidate," he said, noting that this did not make it more likely
that the two parties would ally themselves in future elections,
such as next year's presidential poll.
Armen Badalyan, a political expert, noted that the Republican Party
lost Gyumri in the May parliamentary election, and probably wanted
to avoid further humiliation.
"It's possible the Republican Party announced it was supporting the
Prosperous Armenia candidate merely in order to avoid losing to it
a second time," he said.
Arpi Harutyunyan works for the Armnews TV Channel.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenian-opposition-opts-out-local-polls
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #657
Sept 7 2012
UK
Ruling party set to sail through assembly elections since opponents
say they're holding off for bigger things.
By Arpi Harutyunyan- Caucasus
Armenia's ruling party is set to win an easy landslide victory in
local polls this month, since the opposition parties have largely
opted out in order to save money for future national elections.
Of the nearly 4,800 candidates standing in the local polls, to be
held in two rounds on September 9 and 23, with over 1,440 belong to
President Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party. That is more than all
other parties put together.
Prosperous Armenia, which was previously in the governing coalition
with the Republicans but has moved into opposition, has 304 candidates
standing, while Dashnaktsutyun has 101 and the Rule of Law party has
64. The more radical opposition parties, Heritage and the Armenian
National Congress, ANC, are fielding fewer than ten each.
The remainder of the candidates are running as independents.
Stepan Safaryan of the Heritage Party said there was little point
taking part.
"Local assembly elections are based on corruption," he said. "The
opposition cannot take part in a process where the fight depends on
bribe-paying rather than political capacity."
The main reason for not putting up a fight, however, seems to be
about conserving resources so to concentrate on national elections.
"The administrative resources are in the government's hands, and they
use unlawful methods to maintain themselves," Lyudmila Sargsyan, a
member of parliament from the ANC, said. "The opposition is therefore
retreating from this fight," she said.
The absence of a strong opposition presence certainly gave ammunition
to the Republican Party.
"For the opposition, the problems that exist in the regions are just
small change," Hayk Babukhanyan, a member of parliament from the
Republican Party, said.
Sergey Minasyan, head of political research at the Caucasus Institute
in Yerevan, agreed that local politics were not the opposition's
primary focus.
"The opposition's passivity can largely be explained by the lack of
resources in their regional offices. In addition, elections to local
assemblies are not the best platform for presenting the opposition's
views, as the main campaign arguments are about matters like repairing
water pipes or the providing fertilisers," he said.
Lilit Galstyan of the Dashnaktsutyun party suggested that elections
were essentially a formality and had little real impact.
"The rules of the game are drawn up in such a way that elections
don't mean anything. They no longer an instrument that affects the
formation of the government... intellectual, physical, moral and
material resources are therefore frittered away on them," she said.
Alexander Markarov, director of the Yerevan office of the Institute
for CIS Countries, said the opposition were making a mistake by not
fielding candidates.
"Even if opposition parties don't believe they will be successful in
the local assembly elections, that doesn't mean they shouldn't take
part in them," he said.
The opposition is certain to win one major post - that of mayor of
Gyumri, Armenia's second city. The Republican Party has not nominated
a candidate itself and is instead backing Prosperous Armenia's Samvel
Balasanyan.
Armen Minasyan, a political analyst from the web site www.panorama.am,
said the Republicans had taken this decision to end a poisonous war
between its mayoral candidate in Gyumri and a former contender from
Prosperous Armenia.
"To end this battle, the authorities decided to support a neutral
candidate," he said, noting that this did not make it more likely
that the two parties would ally themselves in future elections,
such as next year's presidential poll.
Armen Badalyan, a political expert, noted that the Republican Party
lost Gyumri in the May parliamentary election, and probably wanted
to avoid further humiliation.
"It's possible the Republican Party announced it was supporting the
Prosperous Armenia candidate merely in order to avoid losing to it
a second time," he said.
Arpi Harutyunyan works for the Armnews TV Channel.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenian-opposition-opts-out-local-polls