Samvel Karapetyan calls for opposition unity

PanARMENIAN.Net - Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia alliance, has appealed to opposition forces to unite. He made the announcement during an interview with editors of several media outlets.

“I am announcing the process of uniting the opposition forces,” he said, adding that mistakes had been made before the elections.

“We made that mistake before the elections. Many opposition forces that may have been fighting honestly overestimated their strength. We were unable to reach agreements with many opposition groups. That is why this unity is now very important for our country and our people,” Karapetyan stated, according to Sputnik Armenia.

He expressed confidence that opposition forces that consider the country’s future important would respond to the proposal, making it possible to form a coalition of opposition forces during the post-election period.

Karapetyan proposed establishing a coordinating council, addressing the public through live broadcasts, presenting existing problems, assessing the situation, discussing possible actions, and moving forward on that basis.

The authorities accuse the three leading opposition forces of distributing election bribes. Several dozen criminal proceedings have been launched, and a number of people have been arrested or detained. At the same time, the opposition has accused the authorities of unprecedented use of administrative resources. It should also be noted that the OSCE observation mission recorded the use of administrative resources, pressure on public-sector employees, and criminal prosecutions against opposition representatives.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan repeatedly threatened the leaders of the three major opposition forces with criminal prosecution during campaign meetings and reiterated those statements immediately after the elections. Both Prosperous Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan and Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan were prevented from leaving the country through Zvartnots Airport while traveling for personal reasons. Narek Karapetyan, who headed the Strong Armenia alliance’s electoral list, was also not allowed to cross the border toward the Upper Lars checkpoint, although investigative authorities told media outlets that no decision restricting Karapetyan’s travel had been adopted.