YEREVAN. – The Armenian capital city Yerevan Council election—which is slated for May 5—is political by its content, and not by its form, Politologists’ Union of Armenia Chairman Hmayak Hovhannisyan said during a press conference on Monday.

“Incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan had noted that the capital city elections could become an outlet for [opposition] Heritage Party leader [former FM] Raffi Hovannisian [who was 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 and who ended a 21-day hunger strike on March 31 at capital city Yerevan’s Liberty Square], who can dominate a significant part of the country. In this way, Sargsyan is attempting to split power,” the political scientist noted.  

In his view, the authorities underestimated Hovannisian’s potential in the presidential vote.  

“If the capital city elections had not immediately followed the presidential [ones], they [that is, the Yerevan municipal voting] would have been purely local,” Hmayak Hovhannisyan noted, and stressed that, to achieve success, the opposition camp should form a strong platform.  

As per the political scientist, the present-day authorities of Armenia are masters of impairing politicians, and President Sargsyan is simply a grandmaster in this matter.