ANC SPOKESPERSON: RPA IS NO LONGER ABLE TO OVERCOME MINIMUM BARRIER IN ELECTIONS

Noyan Tapan
May 25, 2009

YEREVAN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. If the authorities commit falsifications
on the day of Yerevan Council of Elders elections, the opposition
will be able to fight them, but it will be difficult to fight if
unbridled and violent actions are done. Armenian National Congress
(ANC) Spokesperson Arman Musinian expressed such an opinion at the May
25 press conference. "If a group of 50 people consisting of National
Security Service employees, special detachments representatives,
district authoritative persons, skin-heads enter a polling station
and if they destroy and smash everything, beat proxies, it will not
be easy either for us or for them," the Spokesperson said.

Estimating ANC’s rating, A. Musinian said that the bloc enjoys 60-65%
sympathy of voters and if fair elections are held, the Congress will
have a prevailing majority in Yerevan Council of Elders. According to
his formulation, if the elections are rigged, the pro-governmental
forces will form "as untidy coalition" as the current ruling
coalition. A. Musinian said that while ANC is holding crowded and
active electoral rallies, criminal retributions take place inside
the coalition.

Touching upon ARFD, the ANC Spokesperson said that Congress has
not seen a step by ARFD yet that would prove the latter’s being
opposition. As to the Republican Party of Armenia, according to
A. Musinian’s estimation, "that party is no longer able to overcome
elections minimum barrier." In his words, the Bargavach Hayastan
(Prosperous Armenia) party has a bit bigger chance to succeed and
the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) "is a non-serious subject."