Opposition accuses Pashinyan of using administrative resources in election campaign

Nikol Pashinyan, the Acting Prime Minister of Armenia, has gathered a many-thousand-strong rally of his supporters by putting pressure on budget-funded state servants, oppositional parties have claimed. In general, the parliamentary election campaign is passing calmly; there are no prerequisites for any serious confrontation in the country, political analysts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at upcoming early parliamentary elections in Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan's "Civil Contract" Party and Robert Kocharian's "Ayastan" bloc are treated as favourites.

Ishkhan Sagatelyan, an activist of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" Party, asserts that Pashinyan it obviously making use of his administrative resources. Authorities are putting pressure on teachers, school principals and community leaders, she has stated, noting that in the regions, people are afraid that if Pashinyan fails to win the elections, Kocharyan will return to power. This motivates them to vote for Pashinyan.

Nikol Pashinyan "declares that if he fails to win 60 percent of the vote, there will be problems," Serzh Sargsyan, an ex-President of Armenia, has noted. He called on his voters to be prepared for any development of events, including a civil war.

In Armenia, a civil war is possible only theoretically, Armen Vardanyan, a political analyst, believes. However, Pashinyan is an "unpredictable personality," and all elections with his participation, except for the 2018 ones, developed not so peacefully.

Judging by the fact that today, seven months after the end of the war, confrontations in Armenia never pass beyond rhetoric, the society has enough wisdom and strength to avoid violence, Naira Airumyan, the editor of the "Lragir.am", has noted.