Armenian Authorities Already Campaigning for Elections in the Press: Vahan Hovhannisyan

The Armenian authorities quite plainly aspire to remain in power forever. Added to this situation characteristic of the election period is also the strive to avoid at all costs a repeat of Mar. 1–2, 2008, or similar events, which, of course, gives the newly developing civil society the opportunity to overthrow the government, said Vahan Hovhannisyan, head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, or ARF-D) parliamentary faction, while meeting with reporters in Yerevan today.

“Elections generally can mean one of two things: a change in generation or a change in government — or both,” he said, emphasizing that in the case of Armenia, it’s time for both.

Weighing in on the matter of foreign policy, Hovhannisyan said this is directly linked to developments within the country.

“It’s obvious that European agencies have clearly made it known to Armenia’s authorities (and not only) that they won’t be tolerant when it comes to the elections and Armenia should be able to ensure elections that if aren’t in compliance with European standards than at least approach the level [of such compliance]. Finally, the main indicator of democracy is in the quality of elections,” he said.

As an example, the lawmaker pointed to the persecution of Armenia’s news media outlets, which aren’t completely free; that is, the government doesn’t want to undergo a change through the path of civilized elections, he said.

“The main mechanism on the path to civilized elections is campaigning, and in whose hands is this? Of course, in [the hands of] news outlets,” he said, meaning that the authorities are using the news media to campaign for elections and get their message across.

According to Hovhannisyan, Armenia’s situation today is rather difficult, which means that the country’s ruling authorities had to already have ensured such reforms in domestic politics that would’ve strengthened Armenia’s defensiveness, security system, and so on.

“This wasn’t done, and it’s one of the reasons that it’s time for a change of government,” he said.