It is early to speak of non-competitiveness of the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia, Head of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia
Tigran Mukuchyan told journalists on Tuesday.
He said that at the moment the candidates are being registered; afterwards, the electoral campaign will start and every candidate will have an opportunity to present his/her own position and program to the public, and only after that it will be possible to say whether there is a political competition or not. "There are well- known politicians among the candidates, who have an immense experience in this field. I think the race will be interesting", Mukuchyan said.
As regards the observers' participation in the electoral process, Mukuchyan said that all the international organizations that monitored the May 2012 parliamentary elections in Armenia will monitor the forthcoming presidential elections. "The long-term observers from the OSCE/ODIHR will shortly arrive in Armenia. Observers from the CIS, European Parliament will also come to Armenia. ICES also applied to the CEC to monitor the elections. We
have discussed this issue and sent an invitation to that organization as well. As regards the local NGOs, only 1 NGO has applied to the CEC so far", he said.
15 people are going to run in the presidential race: President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan, leader of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisian, leader of Self-Determination Union Paruyr Hayrikyan, leader of National Accord party Aram Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan, member of Prosperous Armenia Ruben Ayvazyan, non-partisan Taron Abrahamyan, leader of Progressive Socialist Party
Robert Aharonyan, political expert Andrias Ghukasyan, historian Vartan Sedrakyan, head of Kashatagh NGO Robert Simonyan, pensioner Pavlik Sargsyan, unemployed Mher Hayrikyan and President of National Press Club Narine Mkrtchyan.
The presidential elections will be held on Feb 18 2013.