Pragmatism vs Populism

Rossiiskaya Gazeta says that next month’s presidential election in Armenia looks set to be won by the prime minister, Serge Sargsyan who has administrative resources and a two strong party structures behind him. Moreover, the paper believes, failure by the opposition to unite behind a common candidate makes such a reality even more likely.

Nominated by the Republican Party, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisjan has the Affluent Armenia party’s support as well. These political parties polled nearly 50% in the parliamentary election and control almost two thirds of the parliament. It follows that their nominee has vast resources to tap.

Also importantly, the Armenian opposition failed to combine efforts and nominate a single candidate for president. The implication is clear: opposition candidates (six of them) will be merely getting in each other’s way.

Last but not the least, the population wants stability as opposed to any radical changes and “color” (orange or otherwise) scenarios.

Opinion polls in the meantime indicate that more than every second Armenian is prepared to cast his or her vote for Sarkisjan. Other prominent candidates (Levon Ter-Petrosjan, Arthur Bagdasarjan, Vagan Oganesjan, Vazgen Manukjan, Artashes Gegamjan) will poll between 5% and 10% each.

Photo: © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008