Armenian authorities are doing everything to weaken the opposition and secure an allegedly “fair” victory at the elections, Armenian National Congress coordinator Levon Zurabyan said.

In this context, he compared actions of the authorities with those of Emperor Commodus from the “Gladiator” movie who furtively strikes Maximus a fatal blow before fighting him on the arena. “Elections in Armenia resemble this fight: authorities are doing their best to prevent the rival from winning,” he noted.

Among measures taken against the opposition, Zurabyan mentioned electoral bribe, manipulations with electoral lists, “participation” of those missing from Armenia in the elections, governmental control over the TV, hampering in financing of the opposition by businesses.

As to the opposition's demand concerning the move to 100 % proportional system of elections, Zurabyan said even if the authorities fail to do it, “even if this vicious practice is preserved, we are ready to face the challenge like Maximus faced fighting with Commodus.”

Zurabyan also touched upon the topic of electoral bribing saying the people are the “victim”, and they cannot be blamed for selling their voices at elections. “You cannot blame a victim, a slave for the slave-owner’s crimes,” he emphasized.