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The Participants Of The Presidential Race Are Not Clear Yet

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  • The Participants Of The Presidential Race Are Not Clear Yet

    THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE ARE NOT CLEAR YET

    Lragir, Armenia
    Nov 1 2006

    The debates on the draft constitution in Karabakh go on. They also
    continue connecting the constitutional process with the presidential
    election in 2007. First because though President Ghukasyan announced
    that he would not run a third term running, a number of circumstances
    show that such attempts may be taken, nevertheless. And this completely
    changes the political sphere and the direction of developments. We
    asked Gegham Baghdasaryan, member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun-Movement
    88, the oppositionist parliamentary group of NKR to comment on the
    current situation.

    The member of parliament says the race for the post of president
    has already started. "The point is that as long as it is not clear
    if the president will run in the election, the potential candidates
    do not feel free. And in fact, the problem of the president has not
    been solved yet. Although Arkady Ghukasyan stated on October 11 that
    he is unlikely to run in the election, a number of facts show that
    this is not so. Namely the leader of the Democratic faction of the
    ruling Democratic Party Vahram Atanesyan announced after the statement
    of the president that after the adoption of the Constitution "the
    president will round up the representatives of the political forces
    and announce about his final decision". In other words, this statement
    was not the final decision. Gagik Petrosyan, the representative of the
    Hayrenik faction of the second force in the parliament, stated that
    the provision in the draft constitution, which enables the president to
    run a third term, will not be withdrown. Therefore, it will be possible
    to discuss the topic of the candidates only after the adoption of the
    Constitution and the "final decision". If the president is nominated,
    there will hardly be any candidates from the pro-governmental wing. If
    not, there will be a number of candidates," Gegham Baghdasaryan said.

    The member of parliament reminded that only the NGOs undertake talks
    about the possible candidates in Karabakh. The Open Society NGO,
    for instance, conducted a public poll, and Speaker Ashot Ghulyan was
    given the highest popular rating. Afterwards, the same organization in
    association with the Press Club of Stepanakert conducted a survey among
    16 experts. And new leaders have appeared: the deputy foreign minister
    Masis Mayilyan 4 votes, the head of the State Security Service Bako
    Sahakyan 4 votes, NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan 3 votes, the leader
    of the ARF-Movement 88 parliamentary group Armen Sargsyan 2 votes,
    the former defense minister Samvel Babayan 1 vote, the leader of the
    Karabakh movement 1 vote, the former member of parliament Nerses
    Ohanjanyan 1 vote. "It is interesting that people appeared in the
    leading places of the survey, who work in the government agencies. This
    is first of all explained by the existence of "an administrative
    opposition". The others think that these people have greater
    possibilities for public politics. There is another circumstance: the
    experts have evaluated the real chances of the possible candidates. It
    is also interesting that there is an oppositionist among the leaders,
    Armen Sargsyan," said Gegham Baghdasaryan.

    Gegham Baghdasaryan thinks that after the adoption of the
    Constitution the political parties will have meetings and decide
    on their standpoint. "The political parties have appeared in a very
    difficult situation. The recent maneuvers of the president slow down
    the establishment of the political sphere. People do not feel free,
    and cannot open the cards. Although, we have learned that some people
    have already started the pre-election campaign," said the member
    of parliament.
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