Kokobelyan: "Outcome of elections depends on proxies"
The Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) should be interested in holding free and fair elections, the leader of the Free Democrats party Khachatur Kokobelyan said on Monday.
"But it does not mean that they will do so," he said.
For his turn, chairman of the Union of Political Scientists Hmayak Hovhannisyan expressed confidence that the HHK will rig the upcoming parliamentary elections since Serzh Sargsyan leads its party list.
"The authorities' attempt to hide election fraud at polling stations, as was the case during the mayoral elections in the city of Hrazdan, cannot save the coalition since everyone knows where the fraud occurs," said Mr Kokobelyan.
"These people think that the stuffing and rigging can be carried out 50 or 100 meters away, and nobody would notice it," he added.
The leader of the Free Democrats party regrets that political forces speak about election fraud before elections but do not try to take serious steps to fight against the fraud.
The opposition forces cannot admit the fact that they do not possess resources to combat fraud at polling stations.
"Even one or two proxies can change the outcome of elections at the given polling station," he stressed. "It is the duty of the government to provide legitimate elections but if the government fails to perform its duties, political forces should interfere and hold appropriate elections."
