“It is clear that if Levon Ter-Petrosyan agrees to be the first in the oppositional list of candidates for mayor and community councils of Yerevan it is the best solution for the congress because it is the only option that may result in victory. In other words, strong candidate in the first place multiplies the opportunities,” said Hmayak Hovhannisyan, head of the Armenian Politicians’ Union, in his interview given to A1+. He says that despite the fact that the mayoral elections have two levels, which means that it is connected with the council members’ elections as well, people will cast their vote for the first candidate anyway. “I could forecast this and it is clear that it is Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s decision,” the politician said. Concerning possible electoral violations Hmayak Hovhannisyan said, “I think that the mechanism of electoral violations is enrooted in our society so deep that has developed even more in the post-independence period. Thus, unlike the fact who is running and what is the format of political competitions electoral violations will take place anyway and we cannot expect that this time violations will not be committed as during the past elections. What we need to do is to establish mechanisms and activities to prevent and exclude such possibility.” Levon Muradyan, political scientist, believes that due to Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s participation the mayoral election will be politicized and the scope of political competition will be enlarged. Muradyan says that from the point of view of political technologies he understands what the purpose of this decision is. “Levon Ter-Petrosyan is running for mayor, Stepan Demirchyan will be the deputy mayor. Ter-Petrosyan will handle the political issues, and Stepan Demirchyan will be in charge of economic issues. It is a very good separation of power. As for the authorities, they have to make too many efforts to find at least a little better candidate in order not to give the power to Ter-Petrosyan,” said Igor Muradyan to A1+. He says that the parties will not compromise because in this situation any compromises on part of the authorities will result in giving out the power. Muradyan thinks that the authorities will support Gagik Beglaryan be elected mayor. “Certainly as a political figure he cannot be compared to Ter-Petrosyan but no one cares about political image now. It is all about strong struggle and they will use power, there will be a big scandal and it is not excluded that the events of March 1 may repeat,” says Igor Muradyan. He believes no one has anything to lose. “The political opposition has aimed so big target that has no way to step back, and also if the authorities make one step back, they will lose the power,” said Igor Muradyan.
