On Sunday Armenia’s main opposition alliance decided to contest the forthcoming municipal elections of May 31 in Yerevan and nominate its top leader, former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, as its candidate for the post of city mayor. The decision, which should shape political developments in the country in the coming months, was announced after Ter-Petrosyan’s meeting with leaders of 18 opposition groups aligned in his Armenian National Congress (ANC). By the same decision PPA chairman Stepan Demirchyan will occupy the second place of the list. This decision is similarly logical and unexpected. It resembles the decision of Ter-Petrosyan to run in the presidential race. Such a list prepared by the opposition must create serious concerns for the government. According to that the possibility of the fair race of the government candidates will drastically decrease. This also means that the campaign of the mayoral elections of May 31 will proceed in similar conditions as the presidential elections of the last year. It is obvious that soon the ANC will claim that the mayoral elections will be the second round of presidential elections 2008 because of Ter-Petrosyan’s nomination. By judging from the statements of the government representatives in this regard the administration also admits that the elections will proceed in such rules of the game.
