May 7, 2012 - 16:09 AMT
Opinion: RPA gained victory due to President’s rating, administrative resources

The ruling Republican Party of Armenia took lead in the parliamentary elections due to President Serzh Sargsyan’s rating and its administrative resources, information security expert Tigran Kocharyan said.

He expected RPA to gain approximately 40% of votes, the specific number depending on the party’s provincial offices, Kocharyan told a press conference in Yerevan.

He was surprised to see Orinats Yerkir party entering the parliament, saying mockingly “we kept searching for Orinats Yerkir’s representatives on the internet”.

As to coalition Prosperous Armenia party which ranks second in the vote, the expert believes it gained a win together with RPA.

Kocharyan mentioned that Prosperous Armenia managed to grab significant number of opposition votes taking them away from the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC).

With regard to Heritage, the specialist noted that it garnered votes due to authority of its leader Raffi Hovannisian, adding that the civil society of Armenia voted for this party.