YEREVAN. – The recent presidential election in Armenia should have been more free and fair, and this could be considered a lost opportunity for the country, Regional Studies Center Director, political analyst Richard Giragosian said during a press conference on Tuesday.   

He reflected on three matters: the pre-election season, the significance of the election, and the current situation.  

Giragosian noted that there was a lack of competition during the pre-election season. He stressed that there was no doubt about the election results, and this was the most non-competitive election in Armenia’s modern history. In his view, each day that followed the February 18 election brought forth greater evidence of election fraud and violations. 

Giragosian also underscored the Armenian authorities’ capacity to hold elections. As per the analyst, during the pre-election season the real challenges were concealed in the society’s profound lack of trust in elections    

Reflecting on the significance of the election, Giragosian noted that there is deep discontent in Armenia. In his words, some of the votes received by opposition Heritage Party Chairman Raffi Hovannisian—who is declared runner-up to the winner, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, as a result of the presidential election that was conducted on February 18, but who claims to be the real winner in the vote—were not his own, but rather an expression of dissatisfaction by Sargsyan.     

“There were political ghosts and political corpses here [during the election season]. The political ghost is former President Robert Kocharyan, and the political corpse is the PAP [Prosperous Armenia Party]. Here we saw a confirmation of the weakening of the strength of the PAP, and also Robert Kocharyan, who is less active in politics.   

Another interesting observation is that the opposition began to unite after, and not before, the election,” Richard Giragosian stated.