Paruyr Hayrikyan’s Union for Self-Determination Pulls Out of Parliamentary Electoral Race

Union for Self-Determination (AIM) party leader Paruyr Hayrikyan, acknowledging a lack of sufficient support from the public, has renounced running in the upcoming parliamentary elections, he said himself at a press conference in the Armenian capital today.

“We decided not to participate in the elections, but a portion of AIM members suggested appealing to citizens to get their support. They were convinced that we would get a positive response and at the initial stage, those expectations were justified. That was a stage of some sort after which we were confronted with the fact that we are unable to continue this way,” he said, noting that this period of enthusiasm, however, didn’t last long, and the donations the party received from the public (which AIM asked for in order to participate in the elections) weren’t great — just 14 million 400 thousand drams (a little over $37 thousand USD).

As a result, Hayrikyan continued, the party felt obliged to make public that AIM, as a political organization, doesn’t have such practical, public support, in which case the call to run in the elections on its own would’ve been justified.

The party leader assured that all the money donated for the elections and the election campaign will be returned to donors.

“AIM members have the right to participate or not in the elections at their own discretion,” he said.