Sagatelyan: Despite pressure from the Armenian authorities, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun secured significant public support in the local self-government elections

ArmInfo. Despite unprecedented pressure and widespread persecution by the Armenian authorities, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation “Dashnaktsutyun” received significant support from citizens in four communities during the local self-government body elections held on October 25. This was stated by Ishkhan Saghatelian, a member of the Armenian parliament from the “Hayastan” faction and a Dashnaktsakan.

“In the local elections, the ARF ‘Dashnaktsutyun’ achieved the following results in four enlarged communities: Tsaghkadzor: 15.4% (449 votes), Martuni: 11.2% (2,053 votes), Artashat: 10.6% (2,925 votes), Hrazdan: 9.6% (1,736 votes).  Despite unprecedented pressure and widespread persecution, we received significant support from our citizens in the aforementioned constituencies, and therefore we are grateful to every citizen who voted for us under these conditions for their support and trust,” Saghatelian wrote on his Facebook page.

He noted that the ARF considers participation in local elections a way to preserve unity around the political force in the parliamentary elections and continue the struggle.

“It is obvious that the political situation in Armenia can change only if the ruling party is removed from power, and we will steadfastly continue our daily struggle toward this goal,” Saghatelian concluded.

It should be noted that on October 25, elections to local self-government bodies were held in a number of Armenian communities. The elections were characterized by a lack of competitiveness and pressure on opposition forces. Moreover, opposition forces complained that tens of thousands of Armenian citizens were deprived of their voting rights because they travel abroad for seasonal work.