Besides the first presidential elections and the 1999 National Assembly elections, when the “Unity” alliance achieved victory, all the other elections have been falsified.
This is what leader of the Armenian Popular Party Stepan Demirchyan said during a press conference at the “Pastark” club. What’s more, according to him, the Armenian authorities have not followed up on that at all and proof of that is the falsified constitutional amendments referendum of 2005. That is why Demirchyan does not take seriously the guarantees that the upcoming elections will be free, fair and without falsifications. The bitter experience of the previous elections serves as a basis not to overestimate the role of international organizations in the elections. According to Demirchyan, the reality is that after becoming a member of the European Council, the quality of elections in Armenia has gone even lower if, of course, it is appropriate to use the word “quality”.
“Democratic reforms can not be made with anti-democratic methods. The falsified constitutional amendments referendum simply discredits the idea of European integration,” said the leader of the Armenian Popular Party, mentioning that they have always relied and still rely on the people.
Demirchyan said that in contrast to widespread public opinion, the people are not in a wretched condition at all, although there is some indifference towards the upcoming elections. Demirchyan explains that indifference with the falsifications that have taken place in the past, saying that indifference can be eliminated by working with the voters. The speaker informed that during the party’s rallies, they call on the people to actively participate in the elections because by not participating, they are creating good conditions for electoral fraud. Will the Armenian Popular Party stand up for its votes this time? In response to this question, Demirchyan got a little angry because he felt that he was being blamed for not standing up for his votes last time.
“I am not of the opinion that the Armenian Popular Party did not stand up for the voters during the previous elections. We did everything, we struggled, and we appealed to the Constitutional Court. We did everything so that the country would not fall into chaos, so that there would not be any bloodshed. That issue is constantly speculated. We all mock the constitutional order. This is the reason for our misfortunes-it is the scornful attitude we have towards the laws and the Constitution. We saw where that led us. We shouldn’t ask questions, rather help each other to not have falsifications,” said Demirchyan, assuring that if the elections are falsified, they will be the first in line in the struggle.
Whom will the people vote for if there are frequent discussions on real and false oppositionists? Demirchyan did not distinguish between the real and false oppositionists according to him, because the people distinguish very well who’s who.
“We hear ardent speeches, but we also see the deals made,” he said.
Journalists also asked the leader of the Armenian Popular Party about the already factual non-existing “Justice” alliance and the disbanding of the opposition.
“The “Justice” alliance worked election after election and, unlike the coalition, it did not collapse,” said Mr. Demirchyan, adding that the pre-election process is just fine even without the “Justice” alliance.
In response to the question/challenge of why the Armenian Popular Party did not join the initiative of Paruyr Hayrikyan to create a united opposition headquarters, Demirchyan gave a short and comprehensive answer: Who did join? According to the speaker, it is not necessary to create a separate body in order to do something, and he considers it needless to sign a memorandum on the conduct of free and fair elections because that is already stated in the Constitution. Demirchyan did not say how many votes his party expects to get. However, the Armenian Popular Party is not guided by the Olympic principle when they say that winning is not everything. For them, the important thing is winning and getting the required 5% to enter parliament which, according to Demirchyan, is not a problem for the party. As the speaker mentioned, the goal of the Armenian Popular Party is not merely to be represented in the National Assembly, but rather to have enough votes to make serious reforms. As far as the different polls conducted recently based on which the Republican and “Prosperous Armenia” parties are going to win in the elections, Stepan Demirchyan doesn’t take them seriously and reminded that “their party has already passed that stage”.
“The Armenian Popular Party has won all the previous state elections. In 2003, I was in second place, while people predicted that I would have 0.8-0.9%,” recalled S. Demirchyan.