ArmInfo. Artsakh authorities are trying to stop the departing train, if not with a stick, then with carrots. Director of the Armenian Center for Strategic National Studies Manvel Sargsyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"In Artsakh, today we are witnessing an attempt by the still existing authorities to pay off sins by involving society in the money carnival of their presidential candidate. This very daring idea is aimed at moral suppression of the electorate's will by cynicism in the absence of the ability to suppress this will by repression. They just have no other way. The results of the presidential and parliamentary elections will show how this plays out, "he said.
The main competitors in the upcoming March 31 presidential and parliamentary elections in Artsakh are ex-minister of state, one of the richest people in the country Arayik Harutyunyan and current Foreign Minister Masis Mayilyan. Harutyunyan is supported by the current authorities of Artsakh, Mayilyan by ex- commander of the Artsakh Defense Army Samvel Babayan, several other political forces. In total, 12 presidential candidates registered in the Artsakh CEC.
According to Sargsyan, within the framework of a quite tangible scheme, the candidate of authority - Arayik Harutyunyan in plain sight offers voters financial assistance and promises At the same time, the former state minister says that when distributing money, he urges the voter not to connect his voice with this "help". The opposition assesses this argumentation as the hypocrisy of a corrupt protege of the authorities, demanding the removal of Harutyunyan from the election race and the resignation of President Bako Sahakyan and two security officials providing the conditions for such a campaign.
The analyst determines a similar situation by the Berdzor actions of the Artsakh elite in 2015, the beating of MP Hayk Khanumyan, and other actions that showed its repressive nature to the public. The feudal police regime, which had been operating for decades in Artsakh, pushed society into a niche for the destitute, depriving people of the opportunity to influence their fate. All this was held back by variouss repressions and blackmail of the external threat and was supported by the leadership of Armenia.
According to the analyst, it was the change of power in Armenia in 2018 that undermined the basis for the functioning of the described order in Artsakh. The situation began to change rapidly, and the bursting environment of fear led to a significant loss of influence of the authorities on society and, accordingly, its powerlessness before its claims. The last manifestation of the failure of the traditional repressive apparatus was the inability to use the police against protests in Stepanakert.
"Accordingly, the authorities have only the resource of bribery with the parallel" ideological support "of this bribery. Artsakh people are told that the real leader is the one who is able to" help people." "It's hard to understand what the authorities are hoping for. Apparently, these people think that they will be able to persuade compatriots to reconcile with the fate that they are being offered," Sargsyan summed up.