ArmInfo. The early parliamentary elections in Armenia were in many ways a step forward and had a number of advantages, but at the same time, it is impossible not to notice the disadvantages that, of course, took place during them. About this December 20 at a press conference, said the head of the party "In the name of social justice" Arman Gukasyan.
He noted that this time the intrigue was not about who would take the first place, as it was initially obvious, but about who, in addition to the ruling block My Step, would go to parliament. "That is, the initial question was who will be the opposition, and what goals will it set for itself," Ghukasyan stressed.
He said that the undoubted advantage of these elections was the fact that a dialogue was established between the political forces and the policy of mutual accusations was not applied. In addition, as Ghukasyan stressed, a big acquisition during the past elections was that the political forces communicated with voters at the leadership level. "Almost all candidates had their own pages in social networks, on which they shared their thoughts, programs, went on the air. And of course, another achievement during these elections was that representatives of political forces tried to bring some creative "They carried out agitation campaigns in public transport, went home and even distributed tangerines to voters, trying in every way to arouse interest in the elections," said Ghukasyan. At the same time, he could not overlook those minuses that, in his opinion, were obvious. "The first and perhaps the biggest drawback, in my opinion, is that the political forces paid minimal attention to their programs, in particular, economic ones. As a result, voters did not understand how, for example, the government intends to ensure economic growth in country, and what reforms will be carried out in the near future. That is, we have not seen a single clear-cut economic program, and the struggle was personal rather than ideological, "he said. The second disadvantage, according to Ghukasyan, was that there was no intrigue in the election regarding the favorite of the race. "During the election campaign, political forces should not fight for 2nd place, but for the first," he said. Finally, Gukasyan also complained that some political forces rushed from one extreme to another: someone vehemently declared that they needed to have close contact with the West, and someone on the contrary, noted that cooperation with Russia was important. "As we can see, such extremes did not bring the political forces to the good that went to the parliament, which conducted a more sensible and balanced policy," the head of the party In the name of social justice concluded.
In turn, political analyst Grigor Balasanyan also noted that the elections, although they had a number of positive aspects, were far from ideal. "Among the advantages, I can single out the fact that for the first time since the time of the third republic in Armenia, early elections were held. In addition, for the first time, elections were held without any excesses and falsifications," the political scientist said. He considered television debates between rival forces, especially at the level of their leaders, as another significant advantage. As for the minuses, Balasanyan also, like Ghukasyan, noted that the parties did not begin to present a clear political program and were more a personal struggle. The political scientist also noted that representatives of various political forces were extremely tolerant of each other. This was especially clearly manifested in relation to the former ruling Republican Party, the expert noted. Another negative factor Balasanyan considered the fact that the acting. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who heads the "My Step" bloc, used incorrect statements and harsh rhetoric during the campaign. Among the bad sides, he pointed out the fact that the participants in the pre-election race had spent on her very large financial resources. "Well, it's bad that there was a sharp polarization of the political field – that is, one force claimed by far the first place, all the other 10 struggled to somehow overcome the passing barrier," the expert summarized.