Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhanisyan agreed to the evaluation of the peculiarities of the parliamentary election in 2007, who held a press conference on March 7 at the National Press Club. Vahan Hovhanisyan, member of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, says the peculiarity is that it precedes the presidential election.
This is only one of the reasons, however. According to Hovhanisyan, the other reason is the enhanced role of the National Assembly after the constitutional reform. “There are also local peculiarities, technological peculiarities, especially the new political parties running in the election, such as Prosperous Armenia or Alliance, who are new to the society and have left no trace in the political sphere. This is also a peculiarity,” Vahan Hovanisyan says. He disagrees, however, that the major opponents will be Prosperous Armenia and the Republicans. Hovhanisyan does not trust the public polls which give a high popular rating to these parties, whereas the ARF is given only 10 percent. The representative of the ARF Bureau said these are venal sociologists who offered their services to the ARF as well but were refused. Of the peculiarities of the upcoming election Hovhanisyan mentioned one which is “an unpleasant peculiarity”, he says. According to Hovhanisyan, it is the record of serial numbers of passports. According to the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, this phenomenon threatens to involve masses. Hovhanisyan says the passport is the property of the citizen and the record of the serial numbers of passports is a crime. “First of all, this is a crime in the world,” Hovhanisyan says. If it is a crime, why do the law enforcers fail to prevent it? Are they reluctant or are they unaware, we asked? First he said this is a crime in the world, whereas in Armenia there are no “specific provisions”. Hovhanisyan says, however, that the law enforcers are well-aware of this phenomenon but they do not take proactive efforts because there are no specific protests. “I am sure that the law enforcement agencies are aware of this practice, but if people do not protest, people must complain that, for instance, the municipality officials came, recorded and took pictures. If there is no complaint, the rest is rumors,” Hovhanisyan says. He does not deny that the citizens often prefer not to do anything because they are afraid. As to charity, another peculiarity of the election 2007, Hovhanisyan says it should be done for free and not in return for the votes of the residents of the house. Especially when the money for the repair is raised in suspicious ways.