The Names of Those Who Did Not Serve in the Army are on the Lists: How Different Parties Are Competing

The "Zhoghovurd" daily reports that the deadline was yesterday, and the political forces participating in the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for June 20 have already submitted their electoral lists to the Central Electoral Commission. The newspaper has attempted to analyze and understand what lists, with what changes and with what logic the political forces are participating in the elections.

Thus, the electoral list of the "Civil Contract" party consists of 161 individuals, with numerous changes to the list. However, at this moment, let us only consider the first 50 and the changes made to the list. For instance, MP Mkhitar Hayrapetyan from the "My Step" faction has experienced a drastic decline, going from the 14th position in 2018 to the last place on the list at 157. Similarly, the faction's secretary Hakob Simidyan has fallen from the 34th position in 2018 to the 74th this time.

Notably, many current MPs, including Taguhi Ghazaryan, Matevos Asatryan, Vahe Ghalumyan, Sedrak Tevonyan, Kristine Poghosyan, Sergey Movsisyan, Arman Yeghoyan, Aren Mkrtchyan, and Narek Zeynalyan, are below the top 50. However, according to "Zhoghovurd," compiling the "Civil Contract" party's electoral list was not an easy task. There were last-minute changes, with MP Nazeli Baghdasaryan now in 12th place on the list, while Maria Karapetyan has moved to the 24th position.

Now let us turn to the electoral list of the second major parliamentary force, the BHK. The top 20 positions on the BHK list do not include any prominent political figures, and Vice President of the National Assembly Vahe Enfiajyan, as well as MPs Arthur Grigoryan, Naira Zohrabyan, Arthur Dalakyan, and others, have been excluded from the list.

There are also changes in the LHK list. Following Edmond Marukyan, who heads the list, Artyom Geghamyan takes the second spot, with Ani Samsonyan in third place, followed by Gevorg Gorgisyan and David Khajakyan. Interestingly, the current MPs Arkadi Khachatryan and Anna Kostanyan do not hold positions in the top ten of the list.

It is worth noting that during this period, among the political forces, the "Armenia" and "I Have Honor" blocs were perhaps the most transparent in composing and presenting their lists. In the former's case, decisions were made proportionally—trio from the ARF, a trio of Kocharian-affiliated individuals, and a trio from "Reviving Armenia." In contrast, the "I Have Honor" bloc has a new list, with no old figures from the Republican Party, only Taron Margaryan and Arman Sahakyan, who are recognizable characters in Yerevan.

However, it should be noted that the lists are dominated by those who did not serve in the Armenian army, which is particularly concerning in the current situation, and the party leaders should have considered this before compiling their lists. The "Zhoghovurd" daily will elaborate more on the topic of candidates who did not serve in the army in its upcoming issues.