Political scientist: The fact that people preferred to vote again  "for Nikol" is mainly the  "merit" of "former authorities"

ArmInfo.The main result of the early parliamentary elections held in Armenia is that the people (54% of the Armenian society who voted) once again rejected the "former  authorities". A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by head of  the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation,  political scientist Stepan Grigoryan.

"And the fact that society, unfortunately, did not vote in favor of  other political, democratic forces, the fact that people preferred to  vote again "for Nikol" is mainly the "merit" of the "former  authorities". "Citizens preferred to forget about their own electoral  sympathies before fear of revenge of all the same forces they  rejected in the spring of 2018. These are disappointing realities,  but I really hope that the formation of a parliament with a wider and  more variegated political palette will be the result of the next  elections," he stressed.

According to the preliminary results of the CEC, Pashinyan's "Civil  Contract" party won the early parliamentary elections in Armenia by  687,251 votes(53.92%) . Pashinyan won in all regions of Armenia,  including Yerevan. Of the remaining 25 political forces that took  part in the elections, only the "Armenia" bloc (by 268,165 votes-  21.04%) , and the "I Have Honor" bloc (5.23% ),  as the third force  provided by the legislation, will be represented in the new  parliament.  All other political forces together collected 15.7%.  Of  the 2.578 million citizens eligible to vote, 1,281,174 or 49.4% of  voters took part in the voting.

At the same time, the political scientist rather positively assessed  Pashinyan's consultations with the leaders, who are inclined to a  constructive dialogue, political forces. In his opinion, despite not  getting into parliament, these political forces, without a doubt,  have something to offer both Armenia and its leadership.  We are  talking about programs that include steps necessary for Yerevan's  work with the European Union, the international community, in  general, and, of course, in the direction of the country's economic  development.

The political scientist does not consider 21% of the votes received  by Kocharyan's "Hayastan", a threat to the constitutional majority  acquired by Pashinyan. According to him, against this background, the  "former authorities", even with the greatest desire, will not be able  to influence the decisions of the parliament.  

Commenting on the possible prospects of Robert Kocharian's intentions  to appeal to the Constitutional Court with a demand to challenge the  election results, Grigoryan emphasized that due to the negative  attitude of society towards the judicial system in general and  towards the Constitutional Court, in particular, if the  Constitutional Court goes against the outcome of will of the people,  it can end in a very negative way for its members.  

"The attitude of society towards the judicial system, courts and  judges personally is horrified. In this light, from a purely human  point of view, I would not advise the CC members to follow  Kocharyan's or anyone else's lead. It is also appropriate to note  here that the main violations at the elections they are associated  with the "former authorities", and not with the current government.  It is clear that all this still needs to be proved in the same  courts. But today we can state the fact of the legitimacy and  democratic character of the elections. And, accordingly, the  legitimacy of the constitutional majority formed on the basis of  their results," the political scientist summed up.