If No Orders From Above, Elections Won’t be Rigged: Paskevichyan

Writer, publicist Tigran Paskevichyan (pictured) expressed confidence at a press conference in Yerevan today that the authorities will cave in and agree with the idea of holding pre-term elections.

Reporters then asked him how sure the Armenian National Congress is that the authorities or the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) won’t rig the elections. “The government doesn’t remain the same. Karekin Azaryan was a man who at one time submitted to Robert Kocharian and now submits to Serzh Sargsyan.”

“If the authorities agree to pre-term elections, all administrative circles, the CEC, the mayors, never create a headache for themselves. If there’s no directive handed down to those commissions from up above, then they won’t do those things,” Paskevichyan said, adding that in the event of pre-term elections, the current authorities will lose their strength and the CEC won’t falsify the elections if it doesn’t receive a directive.

Neither the authorities nor the public, however, is ready for pre-term elections, interjected chief editor of Azg daily Hakob Avetikiyan, also present at the press conference.

“The public at this time, unfortunately, doesn’t want to think about any elections,” he said.