ARFD, BHK, HAK did everything so that President not enjoy second term

Even in case of the fairest election, the incumbent President will collect more votes than all the other candidates taken together. Expert on political processes Armen Badalian expressed this opinion during a talk with the correspondent of Aysor.am. He ruled out the possibility of a run-off.

In his words, the presidential election can be considered finished, even though it has not yet been held, while none of candidates has enough influence and weight to introduce an intrigue in the political field.
“The incumbent President will collect a large percentage – 70-80% of votes. The West would not like it as the West has urged the authorities to hold a competitive election. Therefore, the votes of the incumbent President should be artificially reduced, while those of the other candidates –raised,” Armen Badalian said.
The political technologist noted that four numbers will be “painted” in this process: first, the turnout because the electorates of ARF-Dashnaktsutyun, Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), and Armenian National Congress (HAK) will not go to the polls, secondly, the number of votes for the incumbent President will be reduced to 60-65%. In the opinion of Badalian, the third “painted” number will be related to the candidate who will finish second, with the choice to be made between Hrant Bagratian and Raffi Hovannisian. According to him, the runner-up will get 15-17% of votes.

When asked whether it is possible that ARFD, BHK and HAK will break their silence after the election, he said such a thing is possible in case of a social demand, whereas today the Armenian society is indifferent, people do not care who is in power and who is in opposition.
“ARFD, BHK, and HAK did everything so that the incumbent President will not enjoy his second term. It appears that he is not legitimate politically – society is passive, while the opposition does not hinder him”.
“There is no intrigue at the moment, intrigues will start several days prior to the election and after it,” Badalian said in conclusion.