ArmInfo. The power shift in Armenia through elections is impossible, because the ruling regime "has raped" people's will, Armenian National Congress Faction Secretary Aram Manukyan said in Parliament on October 4.
He said that by creating insufferable socio-economic conditions of life, the authorities have humiliated the people so much that sometimes people are ready to sell even their souls for 5 thsd drams. "It is even needless to say about the administrative pressure on the voters," Manukyan said.
For his part, lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan said that elections in Armenia are determined by the material component rather than political aspects such as platforms, programs or ideas. "It does not matter to people what political force is going to implement its program and what methods it is planning to use. It matters more who will provide them with glasses and dental prostheses, and who will pay their utilities," he said.
Vahe Hovhannisyan, an MP from the Solidarity Party, the need for radical changes in the country is domineering in the Armenian society. This is proved by the pre-electoral meetings with the people, he added. The MP stressed that the ruling regime takes advantage of the low legal self-consciousness of the citizens to apply administrative levers, pressure and electoral bribes.
He thinks that only the creation of an alternative opposition pole in the country can become a real counterweight to the authorities and can prevent the use of the rooted mechanisms of electoral fraud and bribery.
Hovhannisyan thinks that Solidarity Party's success at the local elections in Charentsavan, Nor Hachn, Hrazdan and Kapan inspires hope for the party's effective participation in the parliamentary elections of 2017.