Annulling Strong Armenia’s registration calls undermines the legitimacy of the elections: Tigran Kocharyan

The option of canceling the registration of the Strong Armenia party at the CEC is more risky for Nikol Pashinyan, as it effectively creates a situation in which all possibilities for a legitimate transfer of power are curtailed. Tigran Kocharyan, editor-in-chief of Alpha News, stated this on air.

“After this, martial law will have to be declared. Beyond his Azerbaijani, Turkish, and European partners, the entire world will view this as a clear violation,” Tigran Kocharyan noted.

According to him, excluding Samvel Karapetyan from the electoral process does not mean eliminating the other opposition forces: Nikol Pashinyan, even by taking this step, does not rid himself of competitors.

“Citizens supporting Samvel Karapetyan will cast their votes for other opposition blocs and win the elections, which is not in Pashinyan’s interest. By annulling Strong Armenia’s registration, he crosses out the legitimacy of the elections and gives the green light to post-election processes. And not only post-election ones, even before election day, this raises certain questions in relations with Russia. It was Russia, through Putin’s words, that asked Pashinyan not to interfere and to allow pro-Russian politicians to engage in political competition,” Tigran Kocharyan emphasized.