YEREVAN. – Parliamentary elections are expected in Georgia next year, and Vaghinak Ghazaryan, the only Armenian opposition MP in Georgia, told Iravunk (Right) newspaper of Armenia that the Georgian opposition has seen to it that the upcoming elections will be held solely by proportional representation, the paper reported.

“According to Ghazaryan, this may have a negative impact on Javakhk [the primarily Armenian-populated Javakheti region of Georgia], and there will no longer be an Armenian MP in the Parliament of Georgia.

‘“In my view, [this] is very bad for us [Javakheti Armenians] because all the [political] party leaders are sitting in [capital city] Tbilisi, and they have a list of their [MP] candidates.

‘“Which active Javakhk resident shall fund that list, or help that party in any way to find a place on their first places [of their proportional representation list]?

‘“[But] if they [the political parties] manifest a clever approach, they should rely on the surveys [conducted] in Javakhk itself, and find out who can be put on the list from the local people with authority. Otherwise, we may not have an Armenian MP at all in the Parliament of Georgia,’” Iravunk wrote.