YEREVAN. – The Armenian capital city Yerevan Council elections—which are slated for May 5—are the logical continuation of the recent presidential vote. The way of conducting, and the consequences of, the presidential election will impact the Yerevan vote, political scientist Yervand Bozoyan stated during a press conference on Monday.   

He stressed that, as a result, opposition Heritage Party Chairman, 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 his political team will lose their position to a large extent.

“If the [ruling] Republican Party does not garner 40 percent [of the votes], the other non-governmental forces could unite and propose their own mayoral candidate,” Bozoyan noted. 

The analyst added that, during the presidential election, the responsibility of overseeing was on the shoulders of Hovannisian alone but, now, the non-governmental Prosperous Armenia party, the opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party, and the opposition Armenian National Congress party likewise will carry out this function.

As per the political scientist, it is apparent that Raffi Hovannisian and his team will receive far less votes in the Yerevan municipal elections because the other political forces, which did not run in the presidential voting, are in the running this time.   

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am