YEREVAN. – Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan’s rating is very high, and, despite disregarding the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), some portion of the constituents voted for the RPA in Sunday’s parliamentary election, so that Karapetyan stay as PM, noted political pundit Karen Kocharyan, at a press conference on Tuesday. 

In his words, after the actions by the Sasna Tsrer armed group—which had taken over a police station in capital city Yerevan, taken hostages, but later surrendered, in July 2016—the authorities had realized that changes were needed in the country.

“And [therefore] they brought Karen Karapetyan [from Russia], who began to implement certain reforms,” added Kocharyan. “I believe that this had a major impact on the election results.”

As per the analyst, however, the first problem in Armenia is the reigning total injustice, and the second—the societal condition.

“That is, if the incumbent executive [branch of] power is able to change the situation of the climate of injustice, the socioeconomic situation also will improve somewhat,” stressed Karen Kocharyan.