YEREVAN. – Armenia’s presidential candidate, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic former FM Arman Melikyan summed up, during a press conference on Friday, the results of the first days of the election campaign in the presidential race.  

He noted that it was an important week in terms of clarifying the strategies and political views of the presidential hopefuls and their outlook on resolving the existing social problems.   

As per Melikyan, it became clear that the contenders are not focusing on the legitimacy of the electoral process. In this connection, he divided the candidates into two camps. In the first camp—which, as per Melikyan, includes incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, opposition Heritage Party Chairman Raffi Hovannisian, opposition National Self-Determination Union Chairman Paruyr Hayrikyan, and opposition Freedom Party Chairman Hrant Bagratyan—they avoid discussing the legitimacy of the election. The second camp, on the other hand, resorts to extreme measures, with the most vivid illustration being presidential candidate Andrias Ghukasyan, who has declared a hunger strike.   

Melikyan considered the extreme measures to be ineffective because, “they burn bridges and mean foregoing discourse.”       

As per the presidential contender, his meeting with the voters has revealed a surprising picture: the level of frustration is very high.

“I knew that the situation is bad, but not to this extent,” Arman Melikyan confessed. Also, he reiterated that Armenia’s present-day authorities are a catastrophe for the country, but at the same time he noted that he favors a dialogue.   

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am