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Nikol Pashinyan’s "pyrrhic victory"

11 December 2018 [17:22] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Extraordinary parliamentary elections in Armenia held on December 9 were described by many as "shameful" or simply called a "political show".

As it was expected, Nikol Pashinyan has "won" the elections having gathered 70.43 percent (884,456) of votes. The second place from 8.27 percent (103,824) was taken by the Prosperous Armenia party, whose leader repeatedly expressed support for Pashinyan. Light Armenia party, with 6.37 percent (80,024) ranked third.

It was rather an interception of power rather than a true choice of Armenian citizens.

Some political figures even hint that the pre-election campaign did not last long, but remembered by threats and cases of violence by the ruling force. 

As many as 11 political forces fought for parliamentary seats, including two blocs and nine parties. Political parties had to overcome the five percent barrier and seven percent for the blocks to enter parliament.

According to the Central Election Comission, after counting 100 percent of ballots, the final voter turnout in the early parliamentary elections in Armenia was only 48.63 percent. Compared with the previous parliamentary elections held on October 2, 2017, voter turnout was lower by more than 12 percent. Then,  turnout reached 60.86 percent by the end of the voting. The level of trust in Nikol Pashinyan and his bloc was far below expectations.

The unwilingness of people to vote shows that people have lost their hopes to have a leader who could bring the country to prosperity. Pashinyan has been in power for a long time already, and the only thing he has done over for passed time was giving out empty promises and voicing provocative statements. 

Pashinyan's actions in the role of prime-minister will unlikely bring the country any positive developments, as he lacks necessary political experience or economic background. 

In live broadcast on Facebook, Nikol Pashinyan explained the high turnout in the last election using dishonest tricks. 

“The activity at the parliamentary elections is low because vehicles were not organized in the morning, as was the case at all previous elections. Of course, we do not use such methods as the former authorities,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan himself, who came to the polls around 13:00, did not hesitate to talk about his own popularity and the predetermined result. “According to opinion polls, there will be no coalition,” he told reporters. The first and third presidents of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Serzh Sargsyan also attended polls, but both of them refused to talk to the press.

Puzzling results

The results of the December 9 parliamentary elections in Armenia are discussed in the Russian expert community.

The assessment is mostly restrained, without applause for the winning power and at the same time without mistrust of its victory. Moscow from the very beginning of the “revolution“ in Yerevan held a reserved position.

The unprecedentedly low voter turnout in the elections was of a particular concern. It occurred in the background of pre-election announcements that the people were comprehensive and massively supporting the new authorities.

Russian political analyst Grigory Trofimchuk considers that during the velvet revolution, that is, in April-May, the majority of protesters, according to many analysts, came to Armenia from abroad. The correctness of these experts was proved on election day, December 9, when many polling stations remained empty.

The Russian expert also believes that, although the parliament now has a "revolutionary majority," it is, in fact, not absolute.

"If the turnout was close to 70-80 percent, then at the present time Nikol Pashinyan could celebrate a definite victory. But, there was no such turnout," the analyst said.

Another Russian expert Sergey Markedonov expressed the opinion that given the low voter turnout, it’s not possible to talk about total support for the people of Pashinyan. He also noted that the participants of the election battles showed that they are not ready to "play the role of extras" under Pashinyan.

For the first time in the history of Armenia, the majority of voters ignored the elections. And this is the most obvious vote of no confidence in Nikol Pashinyan. At least half of the citizens of Armenia who have the right to vote considered the boycott of the elections to be correct. More than half of Armenian citizens do not believe the words of Pashinyan and his team.

However, the elections showed that the citizens of Armenia do not like the previous government either. The RPA gained a little more than 59,000 votes, or 4.7 percent instead of the threshold 5 percent. Thus, the former ruling, and now the opposition RPA, following the results of the early parliamentary elections, for the first time did not go to the National Assembly of the country. Remarkable that RPA was represented in the National Assembly of all six convocations since the founding of the legislature in 1995.

Despite the failure of the elections, Serzh Sargsyan’s party is not going to give up. Republicans had previously announced their intention to become a radical opposition. The most unpleasant thing for Pashinyan will be that this is not a street convocation party, but a well-prepared political organization. Without a doubt, the fact that citizens who did not come to the vote is a potential electorate of RPA, which will surely vote for the Republicans when it becomes clear that the new government is not able to fulfill any of its promises.

The people in Armenia were waiting for something quite different, real change and a better life. Instead, they witnessed how the populists came to power, spoiling the relations of this country even with its allies in the CSTO. It is highly likely that there will be a continuation of the course on creating obstacles for the development of Russian-Armenian relations. RPA in the parliament of Armenia could act as a counterweight to anti-Russian decisions that can be made by Yerevan. But RPA could not overcome the 5 percent barrier and it will not be in the new parliament. The “Prosperous Armenia”, which has received the mandates, will not risk opposing the anti-Russian policy although its leader Gagik Tsarukyan has connections and business in Russia. And the third force, headed by Edmond Marukian, has a pro-Western orientation.

Thus, there are no obstacles to the adoption of anti-Russian steps by the new authorities of Armenia.

Arpine Hovhannisyan, the former head of the Ministry of Justice of Armenia, said that despite assurances at the highest level, people understand that these elections do not reflect the real situation; holding elections during this period is an imposed choice. “Many have found a way to express their disappointment at not coming to the polls,” she added.

From the Hovhannisyan’s statement, it can be concluded that there is no real hope for the appearance of light at the end of the tunnel.

The moment of truth comes for Pashinyan. Now it’s impossible to write off that someone is disturbing him. The people will demand from him to realize what he came to power with. But yet it is doubtful whether this will happen.









URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/176932.html

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