On pre-election situation in Armenia

Baku/28.05.21/Turan: Registration of participants to take part in the early parliamentary elections to be held on June 20 has been over in Armenia. 23 parties and 4 blocs are registered, some of them are notable for duplicate words "republic", "homeland", "freedom", "Armenia" ... This creates confusion for Armenian voters which is noticeable by their irritated remarks in social networks.

If, due to the growing tension on the border with Azerbaijan and in Karabakh, the elections are not canceled (there is such a possibility), then the main rivals in the struggle for seats in the parliament are as follows: the ruling party "Civil Agreement" led by acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The list of future deputies mainly includes members of the current team, as well as two oligarchs who had not previously been members of the party - Khachatur Sukiasyan and Gurgen Arsenyan.

In the first place - Nikol Pashinyan, then-Ararat Mirzoyan, Lilit Makunts, Suren Papikyan, Lena Nazaryan, Alain Simonyan, etc. Note that Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan has not been included in the list.

The "Armenia" bloc under the leadership of ex-President Robert Kocharian which includes the "Reviving Armenia" party (leader is the former governor of Syunik Vahe Hakobyan) and the "Dashnaktsutyun" party.

Among prominent figures there are former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, and Dashnak leaders.

The "Free Motherland bloc" unites several small pro-Western parties: The "Conservative Party" of Mikael Hayrapetyan, the "Constructive Party" of Andreas Ghukasyan, the "Union for National Self-Determination" of Paruyr Hayrikyan (a dissident group known since Soviet times), the "Democratic Homeland" (Petros Makeyan) and the "Justice" party led by Arthur Baloyan.

The next block - "This is an honor" that includes the Republican Party and "Homeland", including some well-known names from the Republicans, as well as the leader of "Homeland", ex-Minister of National Security Artur Vanetsyan and ex-mayor of Yerevan, Taron Margaryan.

Two parliamentary parties: "Light Armenia" - its list was headed by Edmon Marukyan. The party positions itself as a "third force" and excludes a coalition with Pashinyan or Kocharyan, is confident of going into the parliament to win about 10% of votes.

Note that the "Prosperous Armenia" party has also ruled out the possibility of coalition with Pashinyan. The block is led by the scandalous rich man Gagik Tsarukyan. The party weakened with the departure of Gevorg Petrosyan and Naira Zohrabyan.

Finally, the point is about the "Armenian National Congress" party led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. He and his deputy Levon Zurabyan actively speak in the press charging all the political forces of the country with putting forward unrealistic, impossible and illegal tasks from international legal standpoint.

According to observers, the most acute struggle will take place between Nikol Pashinyan and Robert Kocharyan. The result of this struggle depends on whether the "This is an honor" bloc will get into the parliament or not. If this anti-Pashinyan bloc passes the parliament, a second round is possible, and if the "This is an honor" fails to win necessary number of votes, then Pashinyan will win in the first round. At least, this is the current situation, and in the remaining three weeks it can still change," says sociologist Hrant Mikaelyan.

It should be noted that there are 132 deputies in the Armenian Parliament. As of today, Pashinyan's team has 83 seats, while the opposition has 44. To get into the parliament, the party should win 5% of votes, and a bloc party-7% of votes.

The electoral system is proportional. -0-