Monday, February 24 2020 13:35

ArmInfo. Having strangled the electoral political process, the Artsakh government will only spill the political processes onto the streets. Such an opinion was  expressed to  ArmInfo  by Artsakh security expert Hrachya Arzumanyan.

At the upcoming March 31 presidential election in Artsakh, 12  candidates registered. At least about ten of them, in any kind or  another,  represent the current government. The main candidate for  power is the ex- minister of state, one of the richest businessmen of  Artsakh, Araik Harutyunyan. His main rival from the opposition is the  Foreign Minister of the Republic Masis Mayilyan.

According to expert estimates, this situation indicates the desire of  the authorities to reduce the upcoming elections to the level of a  farce show in order to maintain power in their hands. However, by  such methods, the authorities, according to his forecasts, will only  achieve the transformation of society's opposition from the electoral  form of the struggle to the street form. And this already threatens  more severe consequences for the government itself, the departure of  which will not be as "velvet" as it happened in 2018 in Armenia.   "For nearly a year now, I have been urging the authorities to leave  through elections. The desire to maintain power at all costs will  turn out to be a loss not only of power to them. And the atmosphere  of fear that they are inflamed will turn into violent actions of  young people against specific individuals. The authorities should  admit defeat, it's not too late to admit, there are no alternative  scenarios, "he is convinced.

Arzumanyan, commenting on the possible influence of Yerevan on the  electoral processes in Artsakh, notes alarming trends. He emphasized  that the name of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in  Artsakh is no longer associated with the main candidate from the  government, which is good, first of all, for Pashinyan himself.

At the same time, the expert extremely negatively assesses the  support provided to the same Harutyunyan by the speaker of the  Armenian parliament Ararat Mirzoyan. According to his forecasts, the  victory of Araik Harutyunyan, the revenge-seeking forces in Artsakh,  will be unambiguously connected with Mirzoyan. What will threaten not  the most pleasant consequences for both Mirzoyan and Harutyunyan. The  defeat of Harutyunyan will inflict a severe blow on the image of  Mirzoyan as a politician who placed the outgoing regime on the  oligarch, and not on the progressive part of the Artsakh society.

"I believe that there is still time for the speaker of the Armenian  parliament to force Harutyunyan to refuse to use his name in the  election campaign until all these manipulations have been buried by  his political future. Artsakh people are in essence healthy people.  We just need a new government that meets our expectations, capable of  gradually completing Miatsum and already moving forward together, " -  summed up Arzumanyan.