YEREVAN. – Solely three of the seven presidential candidates of Armenia have presented election platforms. They are the ruling Republican Party presidential candidate, incumbent President Serzh; opposition Heritage Party Chairman, former FM Raffi Hovannisian; and opposition Freedom Party Chairman, former PM Hrant Bagratyan. Alternative Research Center Director, economist Tatul Manaseryan stated this during a press conference on Tuesday.  

As per Manaseryan, in the economic section of their platforms, these contenders speak in great detail about the social issues, salaries, and pensions. Also, they place a special importance to developing the country’s agriculture and the villages.   

Hovannisian and Bagratyan speak, at great length, about reducing shadow economy. Hovannisian and Sargsyan pledge to create new jobs, whereas Bagratyan notes this is not the president’s task; instead, as per the former PM, the president should simply create conditions to increase self-employment.   

According to the economist, Sargsyan’s election platform differs from the other two in the sense that he does not present any numeric data, but rather points to the targets and the avenues toward achieving them. 

In Tatul Manaseryan’s view, however, it is not enough to just present a “good” platform; it is also important to see who is implementing it.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am