Presidential re-elections took place in Armenia

The presidential elections in Armenia, held on February 18, ended with the victory of the current President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. According to the Central Election Commission, 58.64% of voters (861,160 people) voted for Sargsyan; the head of the Heritage party, Raffi Hovhannisyan, who came in second place, received 36.75 percent of the votes. Many observers predicted Sargsyan's re-election for a second term - after the leader of the second political force in parliament, the Prosperous Armenia party, Gagik Tsarukyan, and the first president of Armenia, 68-year-old Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who heads the opposition Armenian National Congress, refused to participate in the presidential race. , who motivated this step with his age. Former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, coming third, scored 2.15% of the votes (31,643), and the head of the National Self-Determination association Paruyr Hayrikyan - 1.23% (18,093).

The sixth presidential election in Armenia was marked as the most extraordinary in the history of the country. Since the day of the election campaign, which began on January 21, one of the seven candidates, director of Radio Van Andrias Ghukasyan, went on a hunger strike in protest against the nomination of the current president, ending the action on February 19; then an attempt was made on the life of another candidate, the leader of the National Self-Determination association Paruyr Hayrikyan.

One of the seven presidential candidates, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Arman Melikyan, who took last place in the elections, noted in an interview with PublicPost that “predictions based on the election results came true in the worst case scenario.” According to him, members of his headquarters prepared a certificate of violations based on press publications, statistics published by the International Institute for Democracy and Elections and official data from the Passport and Visa Department of the Armenian Police. According to these data, since Armenia gained independence, about 1.5 million citizens have left the country. “Based on the fact that citizens registered as voters make up 84% of the population, we find that 1,260,000 people with the right to vote, or about 50% of those included in the voter lists, left Armenia. If we believe the data of the latest sociological surveys conducted in Armenia, According to which 56% of respondents will take part in the vote, then on February 18 a maximum of 800-850 thousand voters should have come to the polls.”

Meanwhile, more than 2 million 505 thousand people are included in the voter lists, and almost half of this number are residents of the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. According to the Central Election Commission of Armenia, 60.05% of voters took part in the elections - 1 million 518 thousand 407 people.

Sargsyan’s main competitor, Raffi Hovhannisyan, during a meeting with journalists, said that his headquarters was receiving information about fraud and irregularities during the voting. In particular, this applies to repeat voting and distribution of electoral bribes. On his Facebook page, he posted a call not to panic, not to go to polling stations at night, and not to succumb to provocations.

“My positions are strong, on the ground, if necessary, trusted persons will come to the rescue. There is a danger that some forces will try to organize provocations and cast a shadow on my victory. Remember the pre-election events. Be vigilant, calm and balanced,” the message says.

After the announcement of the election results, the winner of the elections, Serzh Sargsyan, speaking to his supporters, thanked all voters, noting that “the people have once again proven that at a crucial moment they can consolidate and make their decision.” According to him, “it was a choice of path, and I am glad that the Armenians chose the path to a prosperous Armenia.”

At the same time, the actual choice of path - integration into Europe or deepening ties with Russia - remains one of the uncertain aspects of Sargsyan’s policy. Member of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, head of the Yerevan office of Hay Dat, Kiro Manoyan, in an interview with PublicPost, stated that “Armenia should conduct a foreign policy in order to deepen its relations with both the European Union and the Eurasian Union, which has not yet been formed, and it will be unfair to Armenia if any of these parties puts forward categorical conditions.”

The leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia, Aram Sargsyan, in a conversation with PublicPost, noted that “it is difficult to predict anything, depending on how he will behave in the old new chair, because he lost in some regions of the country, including in Yerevan. Some drastic there will be no changes in its policy, taking into account the existing agreements and Russia’s military presence in Armenia.” In the politician’s opinion, if “Sargsyan goes for reforms in the country and changes his current environment, he will only benefit from this, since the people are tired of the current ruling elite and oligarchs.” Sargsyan believes that “the newly elected president cannot ignore the factor of the significant number of votes collected by the pro-Western Raffi Hovhannisyan when choosing a foreign policy course. At the same time, according to Sargsyan, “the people voted not for the pro-Western Hovhannisyan, but against the current policy pursued by the authorities.”