ArmInfo.Financial and administrative resources will allow the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) to obtain 55-66% of mandates in the Armenian Parliament of 6th convocation, Caucasus Institute Director Alexander Iskandaryan has told ArmInfo.
"Given that the ruling party does not have to obtain 90% of votes, the remaining mandates will go to the blocs and parties that overcome the 7% and 5% threshold to get seats in the Parliament. Such expectations of the RPA are explained with the lack of real political competitors who are able to obtain at least 50% of votes together. In addition, the authorities prefer to see the opposition in the Parliament rather than in the streets, and it will achieve these goals unless a force majeure situation happens," he says.
In other words, he says, the opposition in the Parliament will simply have to observe the rules of the game. Amid the lack of a force (like the Founding Parliament movement) in the political arena, which denies these rules and fights against the regime, the opposition will find itself in the Parliament but the decision- makers will be the RPA members.
According to Head of the Sociometer Center Aharon Adibekyan's forecast, 5-7 political forces will receive seats in the Parliament of the 6th convocation: RPA, Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian National Congress, and Armenian Revival, as well as 2-3 more political forces having financial, administrative resources and charismatic leaders.