| The Republican Party of Armenia does not intend to share key posts Even before the final results of the parliamentary elections in Armenia were announced, it became clear that the main role in forming the country’s government would be played by the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), led by current Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. If the RPA is supported by the majority of non-party deputies elected under the majoritarian system, then the Republicans will have over half of the mandates in the new parliament.
“The Republicans won and will not cede a single key post to anyone,” Margaryan told Radio Liberty. Apparently, he will retain the post of prime minister, and Serzh Sargsyan, who ran for parliament on the RPA list, will remain minister of defense. The Armenian government, according to the prime minister, will not resign. Within 20-25 days, changes will be made to the Cabinet of Ministers, and it will continue to work.
According to some information, the leader of the Orinats Yerkir party, rector of the French University of Armenia, Artur Baghdasaryan, is running for the post of Speaker of the National Assembly (NA). His party ranks third in the list of those who have overcome the five percent barrier. On this occasion, the prime minister noted that this issue would be resolved “through negotiations with the political forces represented in the new parliament based on their number and weight.” Apparently, Orinats Yerkir will form the second largest parliamentary faction.
The opposition bloc "Justice", led by the leader of the People's Party Stepan Demirchyan, gained about 14%. This is clearly not enough to resolve the issues raised by the opposition, so the bloc is already discussing the possibility of a boycott of parliament. The leaders of Justice do not recognize the election results, considering them rigged in favor of pro-government parties.
International observers declared the elections fair. The main comments concerned the process of counting votes, falsification of protocols, stuffing of ballots, their theft, and even rudeness towards observers. Of particular note is the tragic incident of shooting on the evening of May 25 near a polling station in the village of Shahumyan, Ararat region, which led to the death of one and the injury of two people and “seriously darkened the generally calm voting day.” According to law enforcement agencies, the incident was purely domestic in nature. However, members of the election commission were among the wounded. It was only by luck that the machine gun bullets did not hit the international observers present during the counting of ballots. Gayane MOVSSYAN, Yerevan |
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