Ararat Zurabian Kentron Pre-Election Rally, Yerevan © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008

Yesterday saw an apparently unsanctioned pre-election rally ahead of tomorrow’s local election in Yerevan’s Kentron (Center) district. Some observers consider the vote an important test for democracy following a disputed presidential election earlier this year and a way to assess the level of support for the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. Demonstrations staged by his opposition movement since the 1 March clashes have become smaller and smaller leading some to consider that it has run out of momentum.

Interestingly, others have noticed some similar parallels with the February presidential election. The current district head, Gagik Beglarian (more notoriously known by his Chorni Gago nickname) faces competition from his predecessor and key figure in Ter-Petrossian’s team, Ararat Zurabian. However, what makes the vote different is a lack of interest shown by most residents in the center. Unfortunately, Armenians are more interested in presidential rather than local and even parliamentary elections.

The pro-opposition A1 Plus online news service says 70 percent of respondents were uninterested which makes the prospects of vote-buying and falsification all the more likely. RFE/RL already reports that both candidates are alleging the other will falsify the vote.

Ararat Zurabian, an opposition leader recently released from jail, is challenging the incumbent mayor of the city’s central Kentron district, Gagik Beglarian, in what promises to be a tense election scheduled for Sunday. Armenia’s main opposition alliance led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has declared Zurabian’s victory its most immediate political objective.

Beglarian, who is affiliated with the governing Republican Party (HHK), is seen as the favorite to win the vote not least because of his party’s administrative levers and financial resources. He claimed that the Armenian opposition and Zurabian in particular are intent on rigging the vote.

[…]

Zurabian laughed off the allegations, arguing that the opposition can barely influence the electoral process because all but one seats in election commissions in Kentron are controlled by HHK members and other government loyalists. He said that it is Beglarian who will rely on a “whole system of falsifications” on election day.

“Be certain that all kinds of vote falsifications that were observed during the presidential election and all other elections will be repeated in Kentron,” Zurabian told a news conference. “To talk about opposition falsifications means to prepare ground for falsifications and try to blame them on the opposition,” he said.

The full post accompanied by photographs is available on The Caucasian Knot.