Eduard Sharmazanov: Local elections were competitive and democratic
ArmInfo. The local elections in Armenia have demonstrated that there is no alternative to competitive elections, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Spokesperson for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Eduard Sharmazanov said at a press conference on October 3.
Overall, he takes a positive view of the electoral processes. "There
were some problems, which, however did not affect the election
results and will be analyzed at the meeting of the RPA Political
Council. "However, the elections were competitive and democratic;
the alarms about violations were much fewer that during the previous
elections; the law-enforcement agencies and the Central Electoral
Commission did not ignore a single alarm," he said, adding that there
were also false alarms.
At the same time, Sharmazanov said that even in Vanadzor and Gyumri,
which are known for their opposition sentiments, the RPA was able to
be in the lead. "This demonstrates that out party remains the most
influential political force in Armenia," he said, adding that in
other communities the victory was more predictable. He noted that the
RPA's victory at local elections is a good basis for further success
of the RPA at the parliamentary elections of 2017.
"The RPA is willing to cooperate with all political forces, which are
eager to make their own contribution to development of Gyumri and
Vanadzor," he said. He also thinks that the "classical opposition"
has failed, while the new opposition in Vanadzor has registered
obvious success. He said the local elections demonstrated that the
transition to the parliamentary system was correct, because the
political forces received wider opportunities to present their
programs to the voters.
To note, the RPA won the Oct 2 local elections. Several rural
communities were an exception, where representatives from ARF
Dashnaktsutyun and Prosperous Armenia Party were elected as members
of the Elders' Councils.