Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The upcoming presidential elections in Armenia scheduled for February 18, 2013 likely to deprive the sparkles of nation`s hopes ruining all their future expectations.

The eight candidates for presidency are standing out in the race, including incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan.

Pre-election campaign for the candidates has started officially on Jan. 21 and will come to an end on February 16 at midnight [local time].

The fair presidential elections aimed at the welfare of people as well as being a gift in favor of statehood is the hope of every nation. Will Armenians be able realize this hope?

Given the recent statements and hunger strikes by the candidates one can think the elections will end with the victory of President Sargsyan without alternative.

In particular, Armenian National Conciliation Party leader Aram Harutyunyan, a presidential candidate, deems further rivalry for the president's post unfounded and has no confidence in a fair conduct of the election.

"The upcoming elections can't be legitimate, while those ready to continue the struggle legitimize the authorities," Harutyunyan told a press.

Harutyunyan further spoke of his two programs, with the first one demanding that all of the presidential hopefuls should discontinue the struggle, leaving incumbent president as the sole candidate. The second program urges Sargsyan to withdraw his candidacy and step down.

Another presidential candidate, Arman Melikyan, voices his reluctance to launch campaign, and does not intend to be a part of another demonstration of deceit as he called. In case of non-compliance with the law during the elections, there are two scenarios for the nominee. He and his team might claim they don't recognize the legitimacy of the election and drop out of the presidential race.

The presidential candidate Ghukasyan started the campaign with the promised hunger strike on Jan. 21. Ghukasyan stated that he will stop the hunger strike only when Sargsyan withdraws from the presidential race or if the European countries state that Armenia is a non-democratic country and stop implementing their observation missions.

Furthermore, a presidential candidate, leader of the Union National Self-Determination Party Paruyr Hayrikyan announced that if Ghukasyan did not stop the hunger strike, he would join him for a few days and would try to persuade him to stop it. He added that the hunger strike is useful and that he holds a hunger strike several times a year.

The recent facts are clear mirror of the Armenian political situation that has not been changed since 2012 parliamentary elections. The candidates already have acknowledged injustice that the whole country faces. The person who has a self-esteem at a certain degree would not took part in the presidential race where the legitimacy problems remaining unsolved.

The presidential elections in Armenia are well remembered with the chaos, riots, and falseness. Previous elections gave the people ears-deafening populist speeches full of dressy promises and flashy faith of the ruling authority, which has no any prospects of implementation in the near future. Sargsyan`s five-year presidential activity remembered with unemployment, distress, poverty forcing people to leave country for leaving earning.

The Armenian statistics body released data last December citing an increase of the poverty rate in the country, an indicator of economic predicament which is believed to pose the threat of a social explosion.

In the last three years 5 percent or about 160,000 Armenian citizens left the country.
The number of people who did not return to their home country increased by 10 percent. With the given dynamic, it can be assumed that the number of people who stay abroad will be 55,000 per year.

The Armenian blockade state does not allow the development of the region. The Armenian authority did not gain anything from the war, and merely severed the relations with major powers such as Turkey and Azerbaijan, which deprives it of a few billion dollars a year.

Sargsyan the only trump card is his policy that did gave no inch of land to Azerbaijani side. The Armenian authorities consider militarization as the only way to solve the deadlock in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In 2012, $350 million (16 percent) of Armenia's budget of $2.2 billion was allocated to military spending, and $451 million from the $2.5 billion (19 percent) budget was allocated to military expenses in 2013.

Like the former Armenian presidents, incumbent president Sargsyan will do everything he can in order to keep the situation unchanged.

Thus, the new elections will hardly change the history of the Armenian people, only worsening the situation by current fabricated election process.