Analyst: Artsakh authorities are trying to stop the departing train,  if not with a stick, then with carrots

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.