ARF’S ARTZVIK MINASYAN – NEW YEREVAN MAYOR MUST REPRESENT OPPOSITION
Astghik Khachatryan

nasyan-2/
2009/05/26 | 16:55

Politics

ARF MP Armen Roustamyan said today that elections in Armenia had become
a business and that most voters regarded the elections as a way to
make money rather than an opportunity to choose a new government.

Mr. Roustamyan stated that rather than spending huge amounts on
election bribes an auction should be declared with some of the funds
used to buy property and the rest going to solve the social problems
faced by the electorate.

Mr. Roustamyan said he thought it would be correct to enact a policy
of finger stamping at the polls. He argued that such a policy would
greatly reduce the possibility of voter fraud.

Mr. Roustamyan was at today’s press conference with Artzvik Minasyan,
who heads he ARF’s election ticket for the Yerevan Municipal Council.

The two claimed that the ARF will have 3 representatives at all 439
polling booths in Yerevan. If there is substantive evidence of voter
fraud the party would take the issue up in the courts.

When asked if the ARF, as a previous member of the ruling coalition,
assumed responsibility for violations registered in last year’s
presidential elections, Mr. Roustamyan responded, "We had a 1/8 amount
of responsibility. It’s not easy to struggle when the odds are one
against eight."

Mr. Minasyan said that the formulation of a national municipality
is the first priority of Yerevan and Armenia in general since the
municipality must be able to counter and quell the policies of the
central government. He said that laws were being debated ion the
government that directly impact on Yerevan citizens and that there
is a dearth of opposition voices.

For this reason, the ARF believes that it it is important that the
mayor of Yerevan represent an opposition force since, "if the mayor
is a representative of the same forces then there will not be any
change here."