Comments on: Tensions rise as Yerevan election campaign kicks off

By: Armenia & the South Caucasus | The Caucasian Knot » Letter from Armenia: Election time in Yerevan

Thu, 21 May 2009 09:43:10 +0000

[…] the motions, photographing any rallies it stumbles upon. The extra-parliamentary opposition rallies have been covered before, so on Monday it was the turn of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun […]

By: Onnik

Onnik — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:50:23 +0000

Dashnaktsutyun presents its election platform

Yerevan (Yerkir) - ARF presented its candidates and the election platform for Yerevan municipal election at Moscow Cinema Theater on May 4.

The party wants the Yerevan residents to realize the significance of the election. The government and the radical opposition represent two extremes with the government trying to diminish the significance of the election and the opposition trying to extremely politicize it. ARF Supreme Body of Armenia representative Armen Rustamian called both approaches unacceptable for the ARF. He said the party is running with a team that is completely familiar with the problems of the capital and is capable of dealing with them.

“Whatever we are going to promise is what we are able to deliver. Each member of our team knows their job,” Rustamian said.

Artsvik Minasyan, who heads the ARF ticket, spoke about the party’s platform that covers many problems of the city, from economic and environmental to cultural and social. Minasian proposes the right ways for reforms, saying this is possible only if there is will and determination. ARF will engage professionals in governing the city if winning the election.

http://yerkir.am/news/?id=1669

By: Onnik

Onnik — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:29:07 +0000

One thing that does concern me is the opposition not viewing the election as it ostensibly is. That is a vote to determine mayor. I’m still waiting to hear about actual policies, and regardless of whether it can be used as a stepping stone to power, candidates still need to gather enough support first.

Certainly, nobody believes the 75 percent popularity that the ANC say they have in Yerevan although the 35 percent suggested by a poll last month does seem credible and it’s very unlikely the Republican or Prosperous Armenia party have anything as high. As one diplomat recently said, the party which can appeal to residents of Yerevan with concrete policies might be surprised.

For now, it’s seems unlikely to be the Republicans or Prosperous Armenia, but the Dashnaks might gain a considerable sized vote in the event of offering socialist-leaning policies in addition to being in the environment of Armenia-Turkey concerns expressed by the media and LTP (which is traditional Dashnak territory).

Anyway, less than a week into the campaign so it’s hard to tell. As it is I doubt any party can get past the 40 percent threshold for determining the mayor. For now, though, the parties to keep an eye on do seem to be LTP’s ANC and the ARF-D. More when I see the latter and as the campaign progresses.