eva | 11/02/13 | Témata: European Parliament, South Caucasus & Euronest.
Presidential elections in the South Caucasian Armenia will be held on the February 18. The European Parliament observers’ delegation will be led by Milan Cabrnoch who was unanimously elected at constitutive delegation meeting.
It is possible that the current president Serzh Sargsyan will be directly re-elected in the first round of the direct elections. Surveys predict that he might obtain more than 50% votes.
It is not the case that Sargsyan would be so popular but rather the fact that he does not have any worthy opponent. Representatives of strong political parties who could have become his rivals eventually decided not to stand as candidates for these elections. This decision was taken by a favourite chairman of the opposition party Prosperous Arménia, Gagik Tsarukyan as well as a former president and leader of the opposition group Armenian National Congres, Levon Ter-Petrossian. There has appeared rumour about the fact that Tsarukyan changed his mind not to stand as a presidential candidate after he had met the president Sargsyan.
The election campaign was also influenced by the assassination attempt of another candidate, dissident and political prisoner Paruyr Hayrikyan who was wounded on January 31. In the case that one of the candidates is similarly disadvantaged, the Armenian constitution allows the date of elections to be postponed. Nevertheless Hayrikyan announced that he will not require this postponement.