ArmInfo. Former Minister of National Security of Armenia, former member of the governing board of the opposition party "Armenian National Movement", and currently an MP candidate from the ex-ruling Republican Party (RPA), believes that the upcoming elections do not promise anything good for the RA, because internal political stability will not be established.
According to Shahnazaryan, the results of the December 9 elections will at best reveal public sentiment at that time. "Everything is changing so rapidly in Armenia, that the political mosaic of the country will be completely different after 1-2 months," he said.
Nevertheless, today David Shahnazaryan puts in doubt the legitimacy of the parliamentary elections. "The holding of parliamentary elections is the result of the decision of one person, which was imposed on our society," he stressed.
At the same time, according to Shaznazaryan, the RPA took two important steps for the benefit of Armenia. First, the peaceful, velvet revolution, according to him, is the exclusive merit of the RPA, which did not go to the bloodshed, and not the ruling political team. This gesture of goodwill, Shahnazaryan believes, deserves respect, and should not be taken as a weakness. Secondly, he continued, even before the appointment of the elections, he met with the leadership of the RPA. During the meeting, he asked whether the Republican Party will take part in the "imposed election." "The answer was this - if we do not take part in them, then their legitimacy will be extremely doubtful, and this is very dangerous for today's Armenia. You can't underestimate this step," the former head of the National Security Ministry said.
Today, according to David Shahnazaryan, the ruling regime and its leader, in the first place, are already doing everything possible to make the legitimacy of the upcoming elections questioned. According to him, it was in these elections that the unprecedented use of administrative resources was recorded. Nikol Pashinyan himself, as noted by Shahnazaryan, decided to go on vacation during the campaign only after he was explained that otherwise it is against the law.
In addition, according to the candidate of the RPA, throughout the entire history of the country's independence, Armenia has never faced such serious challenges. It was under the current government, as he pointed out, that serious damage was inflicted on the authority of the state and the law enforcement system, in particular. "The government went on an unprecedented amnesty, which world history did not know," he said, expressing disagreement over the principles and mechanisms of its conduct. As a result, as Shahnazaryan noted, today the Armenian Police are weak and degraded as never before. He urged the Head of Police Valery Osipian to think about this.
According to Shahnazaryan, as a result of Nikol Pashinyan's various statements, both on internal political issues and foreign policy, the ruling regime today is aware that it does not have the support of 70-80% of the population. "The recent march organized by the My Step bloc is evidence of this," he said, pointing out the small number of its participants.
To recall, the list of candidates for deputies presented by the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) to the Central Election Commission is a proportional one. "The RPA is headed by RPA First Deputy Chairman, former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, Deputy Speaker of the dissolved parliament Arpine Hovhannisyan and David Shahnazaryan. They are followed by Vahram Baghdasaryan, Armen Ashotyan, Eduard Sharmazanov, Menua Harutyunyan and Karine Hachemyan.