R. Giragosian: It is a crisis of confidence in government and opposition

“The pre-election period was characterized by a lack of competition. The last election was the most uncompetitive in Armenia’s history,” Director of the Regional Studies Center Richard Giragosian told reporters today, when discussing the postelection political developments in Armenia.

He underlined the necessity of freer and more independent elections in Armenia, calling the last presidential elections an election of missed opportunities.

According to the political analyst, there is deep public dissatisfaction with the failure to disclose the March 1 events, and the votes collected by Raffi Hovannisian in the last election also included the votes of those displeased with the authorities. In his words, Prosperous Armenia Party was a political corpse in the February 18 elections, while Robert Kocharian has become less active in the electoral processes.

When speaking about the post-election situation, Giragosian said it can be characterized as a crisis of confidence in both the government and the opposition.

“The biggest challenge facing the opposition is that the necessity of having definite goals and not losing the initiative. It is unclear whether the opposition has any specific goals or plans,” Giragosian noted.