Armenia: results of local elections

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to VK

On September 9 in five regions of Armenia, elections to local administrations were held. More than 40% of voters took part in them. The elections took place also in the second and third large cities of the country – Gumri and Vanadzor.

In general these elections became another demonstration of financing and administrative resources. Just like in previous elections to local administrations, representatives of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia won in the majority of communities. However, there were surprises. A significant distinctive feature of these elections was victory in 94 communities (out of 481) of independent candidates who defeated their party rivals, first of all republicans. But the biggest surprise was the victory of the member of Prosperous Armenia, Samvel Balasanyan, in the elections to the position of Gumri’s mayor. He gained around 27 650 votes. Second place was taken by the member of Dashnaktsutyun, Ovsep Simonyan. He had 1.5 times less votes.

Mayors of two major cities of Armenia – Gumri and Abovyan – Samvel Balasanyan and Karapet Guloyan are representatives of Prosperous Armenia which is not a part of the ruling coalition.

The vice-speaker of the RPA, Edvard Sharmazanov, stated that the local elections were held in a democratic way. However, the opposition, for example, Dashnaktsutyun, criticized the elections heavily and made opposite statements. “The local elections confirmed absence of democracy at all power levels. What happened on September 9th cannot be called ‘elections’. Money and terror were the main mechanisms of promotion and victory of candidates from the ruling party,” Armen Rustamyan, the PM from Dashnaktsutyun, said.

Prosperous Armenia also expressed its dissatisfaction with the elections. The secretary of the party Naira Zograbyan mentioned disappearing ink from special stamps in passports of voters and other violations. Prosperous Armenia demanded to reconsider results of the elections in the town of Masis where a representative of RPA won.

In general experts believe that the elections experienced strict competition which is not typical for elections at the local level. The hardest competition took place between RPA and PA which possess the biggest administrative and financial resources. It is quite predictable that the main competition at the coming presidential elections will take place between RPA and PA too.

At the same time, local elections cannot be considered as a rehearsal of the coming presidential elections in winter 2013, as there was no political and ideological component. That is why the local elections didn’t cause social interest. Even parliamentary elections have no such importance as the presidential elections. Moreover, the local elections don’t hint on the future internal political situation in the country. The main configuration will probably be formed in November 2012.