ArmInfo. The candidate for prime minister from the "Hayastan" ("Armenia" - ed. note) pre-election bloc, the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, voted, first of all, for a decent peace and economic recovery. He stated this after he voted in the early parliamentary elections at the 7/3 polling station.
When asked what possible cooperation with former Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan can be, Kocharian said: "He's of course with us." At the same time, he did not specify what post would be offered to Karapetyan in case of victory of the Hayastan bloc in the parliamentary elections. Kocharian commented on the distribution of anti-campaign leaflets against the Hayastan bloc. According to him, this is a gross violation of the law, and if there were thousands of video cameras installed around the city, it was possible to establish "who is behind this." "In this regard, there are great suspicions that this is being done by the authorities or directed by them," he said, adding that the bloc will issue a corresponding statement if law enforcement officers do not identify the "authors" of the offense within a couple of hours. As for the detention of the head of the Izmirlian medical center, a candidate for deputy from the Armenia bloc Armen Charchyan, according to the former president, the detention is unreasonable and "in the genre of absurdity." "He expressed his opinion and, from this point of view, I do not think that this is coercion," he said.
Kocharian commented on Nikol Pashinyan's live broadcast on the day of silence, during which he called on citizens to vote. In this regard, the CEC issued a warning to the Civil Contract party and the candidate for prime minister Nikol Pashinyan for breaking the silence on the eve of voting. "This suggests that the authorities do not respect the law even on election day," Robert Kocharian emphasized.
Earlier, the Election Control Committee received information that the ruling Civil Contract party was distributing anti-propaganda leaflets with a photograph of Robert Kocharian throughout the city of Yerevan, attracting persons who are employees of the community organization of Yerevan, who are obliged to clean the streets of the city at night. They were instructed to visit the offices of the Civil Contract and receive packages with leaflets.
Recall that the head of the Izmirlian medical center Armen Charchyan is accused of forcing the employees of this center to participate in early parliamentary elections, in connection with which, within the framework of a criminal case investigated by the RA SIS, on suspicion of committing a crime under paragraph 2 of part 4 of Article 154.2 Of the RA Criminal Code, he was detained. Extraordinary elections to the National Assembly of the 8th convocation have started in Armenia. From 08.00am local time, 2008 polling stations were opened throughout the republic in 38 territorial districts. 25 political forces are taking part in the elections: 4 blocs and 21 parties.