Like other opposition groups, Dashnaktsutyun has rejected official vote results as fraudulent, alleging widespread vote buying, use of “administrative resources” by the governing parties and voter intimidation by government-connected individuals.
Its parliamentary leader, Vahan Hovannisian, complained last week that the Armenian authorities heavily rely on “neighborhood thugs” to win various-level elections. He also backed the decision by the Armenian National Congress (HAK) to boycott Yerevan’s newly elected Council of Elders in protest against the alleged vote rigging.
“If things continue like this, elections will become a mere procedure for reproducing the authorities,” Armen Rustamian, the de facto head of the party’s governing body in Armenia, warned on June 2. “Countering the reproduction of the authorities must become the number one task of all political forces, including Dashnaktsutyun.”
Rustamian as well as Hrant Markarian, de facto head of the pan-Armenian party’s worldwide Bureau, and another senior party figure, Hrayr Karapetian, were conspicuously present at Mayor Gagik Beglarian’s swearing-in ceremony. Rustamian and Markarian refused to comment on their attendance when approached by RFE/RL.
“I am here in my capacity as chairman of the National Assembly committee on defense, internal affairs and security,” said Karapetian. “There was an official invitation and I think it would be inappropriate if we didn’t show up at this inauguration ceremony and respect symbols of our statehood.”
Its parliamentary leader, Vahan Hovannisian, complained last week that the Armenian authorities heavily rely on “neighborhood thugs” to win various-level elections. He also backed the decision by the Armenian National Congress (HAK) to boycott Yerevan’s newly elected Council of Elders in protest against the alleged vote rigging.
“If things continue like this, elections will become a mere procedure for reproducing the authorities,” Armen Rustamian, the de facto head of the party’s governing body in Armenia, warned on June 2. “Countering the reproduction of the authorities must become the number one task of all political forces, including Dashnaktsutyun.”
Rustamian as well as Hrant Markarian, de facto head of the pan-Armenian party’s worldwide Bureau, and another senior party figure, Hrayr Karapetian, were conspicuously present at Mayor Gagik Beglarian’s swearing-in ceremony. Rustamian and Markarian refused to comment on their attendance when approached by RFE/RL.
“I am here in my capacity as chairman of the National Assembly committee on defense, internal affairs and security,” said Karapetian. “There was an official invitation and I think it would be inappropriate if we didn’t show up at this inauguration ceremony and respect symbols of our statehood.”